MEUW - Live Lines

We are pleased to announce the 2008 MEUW Annual Conference will be held June 11-13 at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Stevens Point. The Conference will feature Tim Blodgett from Hometown Connections who will present a series of topics related to the health of your public power utility.

Hometown Connections is affiliated with the American Public Power Association, and has conducted full utility “check ups” for countless public power utilities across the country. Attendees will leave Stevens Point armed with checklists and ideas to give their own utilities a thorough exam from top to bottom.

We will also be joined by new APPA President and CEO Mark Crisson, who will provide an update on APPA activities and federal affairs. Along with the usual MEUW awards (Pillars of Public Power, Safety Awards, and others), the WUSA Trade Show, the MEUW Annual Awards Banquet will feature Dan Small, the host of Wisconsin Public Television’s popular Outdoor Wisconsin program. Dan has been hosting the show for nearly 25 years and has a passion for Wisconsin’s precious outdoor resources.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to network with fellow MEUW Members and their governing board members at the 2008 MEUW Annual Conference in Stevens Point, June 11-13. Registration materials will be sent out and available online in mid-April.

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Environmentalists Should Rethink Nuclear
by Tom Still, President, Wisconsin Technology Council

The Legislature will probably miss yet another chance to repeal the state's antiquated moratorium on building emissions-free nuclear power plants in Wisconsin, even though most of the lawmakers who will vote to keep the 25-year-old ban profess to fear the long-term effects of global climate change.

Just as a number of Republican legislators have recanted their “flat world” denials of the scientific evidence about greenhouse gases and climate change, it's time for Democrats to rethink their iconic devotion to the anti-nuke rhetoric of the 1980s. Let's compare the risks and open Wisconsin to the possibility of clean, safe, and ultimately affordable nuclear power.

The Assembly is advancing a bill that would allow the state Public Service Commission to again consider plans to build nuclear power plants. The bill would repeal a 1983 law that outlaws the construction of such plants unless they are shown to save the ratepayers money and a federal repository for nuclear waste is operating. The law, which was enacted after the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident in Pennsylvania, has essentially acted as a ban.

Opponents to lifting the ban say Wisconsin should conserve more energy. Fair enough. They also praise the potential of biofuels and other alternative energy technologies. Right again. But conservation and “green” energy alone won't do the trick, especially when some of that green energy produces nearly as much carbon dioxide gas as fossil fuels.

Nuclear versus coal
Opening the option to build a next-generation nuclear plant in Wisconsin, which already gets 20 percent of its electric power from two existing nuclear plants, should be part of the state's energy portfolio. In fact, it probably makes more sense to ban construction of new coal-fired plants than nuclear generators. Consider:
     • Our annual national consumption of 1.1 billion tons of coal is a daily killer. In the United States alone, where mine safety records are actually improving, more than 680 coal miners have died in accidents since 1990. China is averaging about 4,000 coal mining deaths per year as it hacks ton after ton of coal out of the Earth's crust to feed its ravenous energy appetite.
     • Rail accidents while transporting coal take hundreds more lives each year, and there is significant environmental damage to the water, land, and wildlife around most mines. Scientists agree thousands of premature deaths in the United States alone each year are linked to burning coal, and that a dangerous build-up of greenhouse gases is a byproduct of burning coal and other fossil fuels.
     • A typical coal-fired plant releases 100 times more radioactive material than an equivalent nuclear reactor--straight into the air, not into a guarded and enclosed storage site.

Chernobyl fallout
Leaving aside the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union, where poor technology and even worse Communist-era bungling killed hundreds of people more than 20 years ago, there simply hasn't been a nuclear power plant accident that can match what happens routinely in the international coal industry. The Three Mile Island accident didn't cost a single life in Pennsylvania, despite the feverish attempt of anti-nuclear advocates to prove otherwise.

The world is quietly but steadily turning back to nuclear power for answers. There is a growing recognition that the risks and costs associated with nuclear power are far more manageable and economically defensible than most alternatives, with wind energy being a noteworthy exception.

If you're worried about global climate change, and you should be, nuclear power is part of the long-term solution. Nuclear power plants release no noxious gases or lung-damaging dust into the air. They are reliable, with an enviable post-Three Mile Island safety record in this country and elsewhere. They are already widely used, with more than 100 nuclear generating plants in the United States alone. The U.S. Navy has racked up another 5,500 reactor years of accident-free experience.

In France, Japan, and elsewhere, the percentage of electricity generated by nuclear power far exceeds America's 20 percent. And they fit neatly into the existing grid of transmission lines.

Environmental rethinking?
Some environmentalists are urging their colleagues to rethink their blanket opposition to nuclear energy - mainly because the risks associated with global climate change are infinitely higher. Those enviros recognize that radiation containment, waste disposal, and nuclear proliferation are political problems, not unsolvable scientific issues.

It came too late for the Legislature's current session, but a March 26 forum sponsored by the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute at UW-Madison featured presentations on the latest reactor designs, waste storage technologies, the economics of nuclear power and more.

The risks associated with nuclear power should not be minimized, but they are manageable in ways the risks associated with climate change are not. At some point, society must move beyond the fears of the past and use all reasonable tools to attack climate change, the No. 1 environmental threat of the 21st century.

This article first appeared in the March 4, 2008, issue of Wisconsin Technology Network News. It is reprinted with permission.

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Working Toward Goal of 25% of Energy Consumption from Renewable Sources
Office of Energy Independence Offers Community Partnerships

The Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence (OEI) works on developing bio-based business opportunities which include: biofuels, biofuel technologies and bio-products. Also, the office works with individuals and groups developing alternative energy sources and technologies.

In addition to the business side of the office, there is a municipal focus to address the unique needs of Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns. OEI is hard at work reaching out to communities around Wisconsin, analyzing the challenging opportunities related to energy independence. To directly address these challenges, OEI has developed a new community partnership.

The Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership is an innovative partnership that is the first of its kind in the nation. It begins with voluntary agreements between the Office of Energy Independence and Wisconsin communities. Communities can take the first steps towards this partnership by adopting a goal of utilizing 25% of its electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by 2025.

This partnership already embraces the approaches and solutions that communities are currently exploring, and it will continue to foster innovation of energy resources and emerging technology. “Energy Independent Communities” will decide on strategies based on their unique assets and how they will capitalize on the diversity of their resources. Partnership Benefits include:

     1. Additional access to state and federal funding;

     2. Increased technical assistance from state and federal agencies; and

     3. Improved energy efficiency creating additional savings and capital availability for budgeting.

Governor Jim Doyle created the Office of Energy Independence on April 5, 2007, with the mission to advance energy independence in Wisconsin and to look at long-term solutions to solve our energy issues. Our state is well-positioned to tackle the challenges facing us because of the diversity of our natural resources as well as our nationally respected forestry and agricultural industries.

The Office of Energy Independence will work toward the following goals:

     1. Generating 25% of our state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by 2025;

     2. Capturing 10% of the emerging bioindustry and renewable energy market by 2030; and

     3. Leading the nation in groundbreaking research that will make renewable energy more affordable and will create good-paying Wisconsin jobs.

To learn more about the Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership please contact Brian Driscoll at 608-261-8146 or brian.driscoll@wisconsin.gov. The State of Wisconsin’s Office of Energy Independence website is: http://power.wisconsin.gov.

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Successful Wisconsin Presence at APPA Legislative Rally

More than 50 utility managers, mayors, village presidents and utility commission members traveled to Washington, DC to attend the 2008 APPA Legislative Rally Feb. 25-27.

Meetings were held with both US Senators and Members of the House of Representatives over the three days. Rally attendees also heard from APPA about several key issues they are advocating on behalf of the 2,000 public power utilities across the nation.

Wisconsin Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-2nd CD) was the keynote speaker at the APPA Legislative and Regulatory Luncheon, attended by nearly 800. Congresswoman Baldwin spoke about the tremendous responsibility we have to be resourceful and diligent in our energy production and consumption.

The Wisconsin contingent was also featured during a discussion on captive rail issues and various federal bills pending before Congress to address those issues. Rep. Baldwin is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1650, a bill to remove the antitrust exemptions now afforded the major rail carriers in the country, while Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl is the lead sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation (S772). Rail shipping rates have been skyrocketing and service has declined dramatically in the past five years, with little recourse for Wisconsin companies and communities who rely on the rail system. Congress is being urged by MEUW, BadgerCURE, APPA and other organizations to make changes, and our federal officials – Baldwin and Kohl are taking a lead role.

Make plans next year to attend the 2009 APPA Legislative Rally, planned for February 23-26, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

For more pictures, visit www.meuw.org and click on “2008 APPA Rally Photo Pages”.

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May 6 in Stevens Point
MEUW Commitment to Community Seminar

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 6, 2008 for the MEUW Commitment to Community Seminar. The Seminar will start at 10 a.m., include lunch and conclude at 2:30 p.m. It will take place at the Stevens Point Holiday Inn (the site of the 2008 Joint Superintendents Conference).

2005 Wisconsin Act 141 made numerous changes to state law relating to the “Commitment to Community” programs operated by municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives (i.e., energy efficiency, renewable and low-income assistance programs). Mark your calendars to send a representative or two from your utility to this important Seminar for presentations on:
     ● the Revised “A to Z Guidebook on Commitment to Community Programs”;
     ● the Revised Annual Report Template (first report covering 7/1/07 – 12/31/08);
     ● an Audit Workplan and Audit Report Template;
     ● a Revised PSC CTC tariff (for your utility’s Commitment to Community charges); and
     ● a general CTC Question & Answer session to conclude the Seminar.

Attendees will receive a binder and CD with copies of the revised “A to Z Guidebook”, the revised annual report template, the audit workplan and report template, and the revised CTC tariff.

Registration materials and a detailed agenda for this Seminar were sent to your utility in late March and are also available on our website at www.meuw.org/events.htm.

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