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Governor Doyle’s Remaining Agenda Includes Energy
Issues
On August 17, 2009, Governor Jim Doyle confirmed he will not seek
reelection in 2010. But he was firm in his conviction that the decision
gives him a unique opportunity to complete some very difficult
challenges without the cloud of fundraising and campaigning hanging
overhead.
Governor Doyle was first elected to statewide office in 1990, when he
was elected Attorney General. He served three terms before going on to
win the Governor's office for two terms, in 2002 and again in 2006.
Doyle said he wasn't running for a third term because he believes
executives should serve no more than two terms. Leaving office at the
end of his second term will rejuvenate the political system, the veteran
Democrat said. "I know that I will regret this decision many times over
the coming year, but I am not going to pull a Brett Favre on you," he
said, referring to the former Green Bay Packers quarterback's waffling
over his retirement. "I am announcing my decision now to allow other
candidates to step forward and to get going." Doyle’s announcement was
followed by a flurry of statements by potential candidates from both
parties in what will be the first governor's race without an incumbent
since 1982.
During his announcement, Doyle listed a dozen initiatives that he would
like to complete in his remaining 16 months in office, including
- Implementing the final recommendations of his Global Warming
Task Force;
- Expanding energy conservation and development of renewable
sources of energy;
- Creating a new Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison; and
- Expanding high-tech industries and promoting the growth of
green jobs.
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Depending on Design, Cap-and-Trade Could Cost
Consumers Billions, Study Finds
A greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system could cost consumers billions
of dollars more per year depending on how emission allowances are
allocated and on whether consumers live in an area served by a
deregulated single-price market, a new study shows. The report by
Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., demonstrates that
any allocations given to merchant generators in deregulated markets will
result in windfall profits without taking any steps to reduce carbon
emissions.
The study was sponsored by APPA, the National Association of Regulatory
Utility Commissioners, the National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association and the National Association of State Utility Consumer
Advocates.
All four sponsors said they support enactment of affordable climate
change legislation that protects consumers and prompts investments to
reduce emissions and spur economic growth. All four groups also
recognize that cap-and-trade legislation will inevitably raise
electricity rates and that many individual provisions in the
House-passed climate change bill (H.R. 2454) have the potential to raise
or lower rates while promoting energy efficiency or clean energy
programs.
The study shows two factors can produce unproductive costs for
consumers: 1) providing free allowances to unregulated generators, and
2) deregulated, single-price markets in regional transmission
organization regions, APPA President and CEO Mark Crisson said at a July
15 press conference on the study. In allocating free allowances to
merchant generators, H.R. 2454 "amounts to a $4 billion per year
giveaway," he said. Free allowances aren't necessary to keep these
generators whole, and divert funds from ways to mitigate emissions and
protect consumers, he said.
It is crucial to include market reforms as part of efforts to tackle
climate change, "so funds to address climate change are not crowded out
by generators' profits," Crisson said. Studies for APPA's Electric
Market Reform Initiative showed that use of non-cost-based bids in the
RTO markets provides an opportunity to exercise market power and that
merchant generators in PJM had substantial profits even in 2008, he
noted. APPA is working hard to promote its Competitive Market Plan,
which is designed to keep what's good about RTOs and reform their
wholesale electricity markets, he said.
A number of studies have estimated consumer costs, but the Synapse
report is the first to attempt to address how allocations to merchant
generators instead of local distribution companies can drive prices up
higher than necessary, the four organizations said. Allocating
allowances to unregulated merchant generators would impose unproductive
costs on consumers with no additional benefit to the environment, they
said.
"In deregulated markets, it is likely that any allowance allocation will
result in consumer-funded windfall profits for certain generating plant
owners, at least in the early years," the report said. "Any free
allocation of allowances to merchant generators will serve to increase
these windfall profits, and to increase costs to consumers in both
regulated and deregulated electricity markets."
Synapse analyzed three different scenarios for allocating emission
allowances and determined that consumers will see the lowest cost if
allowances are allocated for free to local distribution utilities.
Although this scenario will likely result in higher electricity prices,
it will also allow regulatory entities to use benefits from the
allowances for programs that can lower the burden on consumers.
Allocating allowances to merchant generators needlessly increases costs
to consumers because it reduces the number of allowances available to
local distribution utilities, which are required to use the allowances
to mitigate consumer costs.
Assuming a price of $20/ton, the report said, allocating free allowances
to:
Even under the low-cost
scenario of 100% allocation of allowances for free to local distribution
utilities, "customers served by cost-regulated plants will pay an
incremental $1.88 per MWh on average nationally, while customers served
by market-based plants will pay an incremental $5.85 per MWh on average,
or more than three times as much," the report said. "Looked at another
way, cost-based customers would pay $4.6 billion to cover $2.5 billion
of productive abatement costs (a ratio of less than 2 to 1); while the
market-based customers pay $9.4 billion to cover $1.3 billion of
productive abatement costs (a ratio of more than 7 to 1)."
The four sponsors of the study agreed that all emission allowances
should be distributed to local distribution utilities. NRECA CEO Glenn
English said NRECA would urge the Senate to allocate allowances based on
emissions.
In addition to allocation issues, another concern is that the number of
emission allowances provided under the legislation will not cover all of
the reductions required during the early years of implementing the bill,
Crisson said. Congress needs to revisit the emission reduction targets
for the first five years if lawmakers want a sustainable bill that will
not be repealed later, he said.
The Synapse report, based on electricity plant-specific data from the
Environmental Protection Agency, aggregates consumer and producer
impacts by regions of the country and type of generator (by fuel), for
each of the three allowance allocation scenarios. It demonstrates how
allocating allowances to merchant generators will increase unproductive
costs for consumers. The report states: "One particularly dramatic
manifestation of these effects is the windfall profits that would accrue
to the owners of unregulated non-emitting generators (i.e. nuclear and
hydroelectric) under cap-and-trade. This windfall would amount to
several billion dollars annually."
Should significant changes be made to the allocation scheme in H.R.
2454, the Edison Electric Institute would "have great difficulties"
supporting the legislation, EEI Vice President David Owens told
reporters following the July 15 press conference.
The full text of the report, entitled "Productive and Unproductive Costs
of CO2 Cap-and-Trade: Impacts on Electricity Consumers and Producers,"
is available at
www.synapse-energy.com.
Reproduced by permission of APPA’s Public Power Weekly.
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Public Power Week Set for October 4-10
Most of MEUW’s 82 member utilities celebrate being a publicly owned
utility 12 months per year. But there is one special week each year
during which we can blow our horns just a bit louder.
Public Power Week this year is October 4-10 and gives MEUW’s
Members a chance to share with their communities the value and benefits
of a municipally-owned electric utility.
In the past some Members have held open houses, issued energy
conservation challenges to their customers, raffled off some energy
efficient appliances, conducted a ‘public power walk’ and other
innovative and creative methods to celebrate Public Power Week.
What is your utility doing this year? Share your stories and pictures
with MEUW and APPA so other utilities can enjoy your celebration with
you.
You can obtain a full toolkit with resources and ideas through the APPA
website (www.appanet.org).
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Public Power Week: A Chance for MEUW Members
to Shine!
We cannot ignore the fact that utility bills and electric rates
continue to creep upward. Unfortunately customers don’t always see how
difficult it can be to juggle all the balls at once to keep the lights
on and electric rates affordable. There can be a tendency to forget how
truly beneficial it is to live in a community that owns their own
electric utility. The American Public Power Association has a new
brochure that highlights some of the reasons that make public power
utilities a unique community asset. Here are a few:
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LOW RATES: A typical
municipal electric utility’s rates are
15%-20% lower than an investor owned utility.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE: Utility
office located in the community
provides for unmatched customer service.
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NOT FOR PROFIT: All municipal
electric utility revenues and
expenditures are overseen by local governing commissions or
local elected bodies, and all rates must be approved by the
Public Service Commission. The only shareholders are your
customers!
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LOCAL CONTROL: Local citizens
have the opportunity to
serve on utility committees and commissions, giving them the
authority to make decisions affecting utility operations. Local
people governing the local utility.
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LOCAL MANAGEMENT/EMPLOYMENT:
The local utility
employs lineworkers, management staff and others right from
your local community.
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COMMUNITY FOCUSED: The
utility participates in
community events and activities, providing support for groups
and other municipal departments as needed.
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October 7 and 8 in Marshfield
MEUW Tree Trimming Workshop and MEUW/WPPI Substation
Workshop
MEUW will hold a one-day Tree Trimming Workshop on Wednesday,
October 7, at Marshfield Utilities (2000 S. Roddis Avenue, Marshfield,
Wisconsin, 715/387-1195). The training will be provided by FISTA (Forest
Industry Safety and Training Alliance) of Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Attendees will spend the morning working on chainsaw safety, maintenance
and personal protective equipment. In the afternoon, attendees will
split into two groups to work on tree felling. Attendees should bring
their own equipment so that they are trained with what they use on the
job at their utility. A list of required equipment is included in the
workshop agenda. Training will be held rain or shine, so attendees must
come prepared for the weather.
The 2009 MEUW/WPPI Substation Workshop has been set for Thursday,
October 8, at Marshfield Utilities, the day after the 2009 MEUW Tree
Trimming Workshop (in the same location). The instructors will be
Dave Krause (Krause Power Engineering), Ray Jacques (A. C. Engineering)
and Paul Schlies (Energis High Voltage Resources). Topics will include
general substation safety, substation basics including grounding,
switching, protection schemes, regulation (LTC/regulators), breaker
settings and coordination with downstream devices, circuit switcher
operations and power transformer sizing/paralleling procedures, relaying
basics including purposes, settings, testing, differential relaying and
under frequency load shedding, and substation equipment including power
transformer oil testing, breaker/regulator/battery maintenance, common
failures and preventive maintenance. There will be hands-on instruction,
so every attendee must bring a hard hat, safety glasses and Flame
Resistant (FR) clothing. Attendance at the Substation Workshop is
limited to 60 people, so register early to guarantee a spot.
These workshops are being held back-to-back in order to reduce travel
time and expenses for those who attend both workshops. The fee for one
workshop (either Tree Trimming or Substation) is $140,
which includes breakfast and lunch, as well as refreshments and snacks
during breaks. However, an individual can register for both workshops
for the package price of $250. The registration deadline for both
workshops is Tuesday, September 22.
For those who wish to stay overnight in Marshfield, a block of rooms has
been reserved at the Holiday Inn (750 South Central Avenue). To make a
reservation, call 715/486-1500 by Tuesday, September 15,
and ask for the MEUW block. You will need to present an employee ID or
other proof of municipal employment to receive the state rate of $70 for
a queen bed room or $80 for a king bed room.
Your utility should have received workshop registration materials in
late August. For another copy, visit
www.meuw.org/events.htm or
contact MEUW Receptionist Shari Baumann (608/837-2263 or
sbaumann@meuw.org).
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September 14 - 16, 2009 at Sawyer Park in Sturgeon Bay
MEUW Qualified Pole Climbing School
Pole climbing is quickly becoming a lost art, thanks to improvements
to bucket trucks and the conversion of back yard overhead distribution
systems to underground. The need for linemen to climb poles will never
totally be eliminated, though, especially when repairing damage from
summer storms or when offering mutual aid. Linemen who attend the MEUW
Qualified Pole Climbing School will spend three intense days of learning
and practicing basic climbing skills needed to perform their jobs, after
which their skills will be assessed. If their abilities meet the grade,
they will be issued a Qualified Pole Climbing Certificate. Attendance
will be limited to twenty to allow the instructor(s) to give personal
attention to each student.
Students will spend much of the three days climbing, so it is imperative
that they come to the school in good shape, with a good quality pair of
lineman boots with steel shanks, and climbing equipment which is in good
condition. In addition, they will need to bring work gloves, hard hats,
safety glasses, and a long sleeve shirt for each day. The climbing
portion will be completed rain or shine, so bring rain gear also. The
School will take place at Sawyer Park, the site of the 2009 MEUW
Lineman’s Rodeo in Sturgeon Bay, at the corner of Neenah and East Oak
Streets (we will use the same utility poles that were installed for the
Rodeo).
Because of the limited class size, please contact MEUW (608/837-2263,
or email Shari Baumann at sbaumann@meuw.org) to see if space is still
available. Registrations will be taken as they are received and will
close when the class size reaches 20. The fee is $200 per person, which
includes lunch for all three days, refreshments and snacks during
breaks. Registration materials are available online at
www.meuw.org/events.htm.
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