Governor’s Task Force on Energy Efficiency
and Renewables Finalizes Recommendations

In late July, Governor Jim Doyle’s Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewables finalized its recommendations as to how to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in Wisconsin. The final report will be published in September.

Among the key recommendations:

secure the current ratepayer funding for the state public benefits fund, a large portion of which has been used recently to balance the state budget;

preserve the current ability of municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives to operate and administer their own public benefits programs;

increase the “renewable portfolio standard” (RPS) for every electric provider by 2% by 2010 and then by a total of 6% by 2015, and compliance would mean compliance with the State’s energy priorities law;

increase the State of Wisconsin’s purchase of renewable electricity to 10% by 2006 and to 20% by 2010;

empower the Public Service Commission to set targets and funding levels for energy efficiency spending;

update and improve the State’s energy building codes; and

create rural energy efficiency and renewable initiatives.

Commenting on the recommendations, Governor Doyle stated that “as we enter a building cycle in the state for electric infrastructure to meet growing energy demands, it is important to make energy efficiency and renewable energy resources part of our overall strategy.” Doyle stated that he plans to review the final report, and then develop a plan to put the recommendations in place that will likely include regulatory, administrative and legislative changes.

Thirty MEUW Members Achieve a Safety Score of 100 or Above in 2003
MEUW 2003 Safety Awards Recognize Excellence
by MEUW Safety Director Steve Hedden

Congratulations to the thirty MEUW members who were recognized at the 2004 MEUW Annual Conference held at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc. The municipal utilities recognized for achieving a safety score of 100 or above are:

Group A (10,000 annual worker hours and below)
Arcadia Electric Utility
Boscobel Utilities
Brodhead Water & Light Commission
Cadott Light & Water Department

Cornell Municipal Electric Utility
Cuba City Light & Water Plant
Eagle River Light & Water Department
Elroy Electric & Water Utility
Juneau Utility Commission
New Glarus Municipal Light & Water
New Holstein Utilities
Oconto Falls Municipal Utilities
Pardeeville Electric Commission
Sauk City Utilities
Stratford Water & Electric Department

Group B (10,001 to 20,000 annual worker hours)
Cedarburg Light & Water Commission
Clintonville Utilities
Columbus Water & Light Department
Fennimore Municipal Utilities
Hartford Utilities
New Richmond Utilities
Reedsburg Utility Commission
Rice Lake Utilities
Richland Center Municipal Utilities
River Falls Municipal Utility
Two Rivers Water & Light Department

Group C (20,001 annual worker hours and above)
Kaukauna Utilities
Manitowoc Public Utilities
Marshfield Electric & Water Department
Wisconsin Rapids Water Works & Lighting Commission

In its fifth year the Safety Award Program has under gone major changes this year. Originally patterned after the APPA Safety Award Program, the MEUW Safety & Education Committee decided that the award should not only recognize a utility that does not record a loss time injury for the past year, but also recognize pro-active activities taken on by utilities to reduce accidents. Utilities begin with a 100 score. Lost time injuries, light duty days, and medical treatments deduct from the score of 100. Holding weekly in house safety meetings, reviewing the MEUW Safety Manual annually, conducting job site audits, and regularly attending MEUW Safety Sessions add to the total safety score. Why the big change? Because we believe that if our member utilities implement these pro-active measures it will significantly reduce loss time injuries.

The Award itself is very small in comparison to real benefits your utility experiences. It is a fact that there are monetary savings when you eliminate employee accidents, but how can you put a value amount on your employees being on the job each day bringing with them their knowledge and experience they have with your system? Or how can you put a value on preventing an employee from losing his life or suffering crippling injuries while working for your community? A serious injury or fatality is devastating for the employee’s family but the effect on the utility and the community are devastating also.


The number of MEUW member utilities receiving safety awards has increased each year and the number of serious injuries are on the decline. The challenge is to not let our guard down and continue to encourage our workers to work as safely as they possibly can. This encouragement comes through supporting pro-active safety measures and making sure your employees have everything they need to perform their job as safely as possible. Our goal is to someday award 82 Safety Awards. A lofty goal yes, but possible with hard work.

Guest Column
Don’t Raid Energy Fund
by State Senator Rob Cowles

Hold on to your wallet -- a successful state program that fuels our state’s economic development and protects our environment may soon be on the chopping block again.

Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and conservation program (also known as Public Benefits or Focus on Energy) has suffered major setbacks in recent years. State electric ratepayers, not taxpayers, pay for the Public Benefits program with a small fee on each utility bill. 

The Legislature and the Governor approved a $47 million cut in the Public Benefits program and then transferred that money into the state’s general fund. This means we balanced the budget by raiding ratepayer dollars, which is in reality a hidden tax increase on Wisconsin residents. This $47 million cut reduces the program by a third, and it will certainly harm conservation efforts that reduce our energy demand. 

The Governor’s Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewables has been deliberating over the past year. The task force recently reached unanimous agreement on final recommendations to submit to the governor regarding Public Benefits to implement within the next state budget.

In balancing the next budget, the Legislature will need to reduce funding for many good programs. However, electric ratepayers collect Public Benefits funds for a very specific purpose -- energy efficiency efforts and encouraging renewable power. Further diversions of energy funds would cripple or abolish what might be one of the most effective energy and economic development tools in our arsenal, just as we need it the most. 

Wisconsin is now entering a phase of billions in new energy infrastructure construction over the decade. Now more than ever it is important to protect cost-effective energy conservation and efficiency efforts. The Public Benefits program can improve reliability and provide immediate relief to the state’s power grid. It has been estimated that the program has created thousands of good paying jobs as well as the obvious environmental benefits. 
Our Public Benefits program has been highly successful. Unlike previous energy conservation programs within the service territory of each utility, the program now has a consistent statewide level of effort never attempted before in Wisconsin. 

Last year, the Senate Committee on Energy and Utilities, which I chair, heard from dozens of representatives from Wisconsin manufacturers, distributors, retailers, homebuilders and other businesses that have worked with and benefitted from Public Benefits. Also represented were utilities, labor unions, environmental groups, schools, colleges and non-profit groups. There was unanimous agreement from these varied groups that Public Benefits is a highly effective program that has already saved significant amounts of energy, and can do so even more cheaply than energy can be produced. 

Public Benefits may be the best-kept secret in state government, largely because so much of the program is delivered by the private sector. It helps Wisconsin businesses become competitive while preserving our natural resources.

It is critical that this next state budget be balanced legitimately, without the use of ratepayer dollars as filler and without destroying this important program.

Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay) represents the Second State Senate District and is the Chairman of the Senate Energy & Utilities Committee. Sen. Cowles also serves on the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewables.

Eight MEUW Members Provide Mutual Aid
F3 Tornado Cuts Power to Waupun in June
by Scott Meske

What does a small, public power community do when Mother Nature unleashes her worst just after nightfall? What if you KNOW you have to respond to the community’s needs to restore power, but due to devastation throughout the city, it’s a battle just getting the trucks onto the streets?

For Waupun and its city-owned electric utility, Waupun Utilities, the answer was MEUW Mutual Aid. 

On June 23, 2004, around 9:00 p.m., a devastating tornado ripped through this Wisconsin community of about 10,500 (4,300 electric customers) causing more than half the city to lose power. The National Weather Service estimated that the F3 tornado registered winds of between 158 and 206 mph. Only the State Prison and the local hospital had enough back up generation to continue uninterrupted operations. With their own crews already at work, the utility began taking calls, not only from concerned customers¼from other municipal electric utilities.

Zak Bloom, Waupun Utilities Assistant Manager and Finance Manager, said several MEUW communities responded before the word officially went out that help was needed. “By the time I arrived at the office, a number of utilities were already offering up help.”

The following eight MEUW members sent line crews, trucks and other storm restoration equipment to Waupun: Cedarburg Light & Water Comm., Columbus Water & Light Dept., Juneau Utility Comm., Lodi Utilities, Oconomowoc Utilities, Sheboygan Falls Utilities, Sun Prairie Water & Light, and Waunakee Water & Light Comm. MEUW Safety Director Steve Hedden also responded from his home in Juneau, providing immediate assistance with mutual aid communications and safety awareness.

“We would still be out clearing trees and restoring power if it weren’t for mutual aid,” Bloom said.

Bloom estimates that by 6:00 a.m. the next morning, about one-half of the outage was repaired and power was restored. The seemingly tedious task of clearing trees and identifying and hooking up the remaining customers took another 72 hours.

“I just can’t say enough about how everybody pulled together to get the job done,” Bloom added. He stressed three main factors when responding to a natural disaster of this magnitude:

1). Make sure the mutual aid information is current and accessible;

2.). Safety is the overriding factor on the ground. Stressful situations and working long hours in a potentially dangerous environment can be a formula for accidents; and

3). Logistics of housing, feeding, and caring for crews should be arranged in advance with local hotels and restaurants.


“We had spouses bringing in food for crews and our office personnel were distributing water throughout the operation,” Bloom said. “Keeping the crews fed and rested was one of our biggest challenges, along with communications once we had all this help arrive.”

The Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin publishes a “Mutual Aid Manual” with much of the information a utility would need in times of crisis. Some communities never have to open up the mutual aid manual, but you can’t predict when Mother Nature might have a bad night, and she doesn’t care if you have read the manual or not.

Just ask Waupun Utilities.

Apprenticeship Update
by Randy Larson, Apprenticeship Lineworker Instructor, Chippewa Valley Technical College

The 2004-2005 Apprenticeship Training year gets underway in August. MEUW members account for a very significant portion of the program’s participation! If it were not for the apprentices retaining the training we provide and the employers having confidence in the Apprenticeship Training program, this program would simply not be the success that it is. 

Thank you for all of your support and participation. The schedule is as follows:

1st year - Beaver Dam
(11 in class so far) August 23-27
September 20-24
January 10-14
February 21-25

2nd Year - Beaver Dam 
(24 in class) October 11-15
November 15-19
February 7-11
March 14-18

3rd Year - Eau Claire 
(24 in class) September 13-17
December 6-10
January 31 - February 4
April 11-15

4th Year - Eau Claire 
(33 in class) December 13-17
January 3-7
March 7-11
April 11-15

If you have any questions about the Apprenticeship Training Program, please contact Randy Larson, the Apprenticeship Lineworker Instructor, at 715/855﷓7542 (CVTC office), 715/723-1908 (home) or rlarson@cvtc.edu.

Back to the top