President Donald Trump called climate change a “Chinese hoax” on the campaign trail, and the state Department of Natural Resources recently revised its website to cast doubt on what’s causing climate change. But here in Madison, city leaders aren’t debating the science. Instead, they intend to lead by example.
“Our ultimate goal is to run all city operations on 100 percent renewable energy so we aren’t contributing to global warming anymore,” says Bradley Campbell, a member of the Sustainable Madison Committee. “We are going to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
In the next few weeks, the Common Council will consider spending $250,000 for a consultant to propose options on how to reach this ambitious goal. Campbell says sourcing the city’s electricity needs from 100 percent renewable, carbon-neutral energy is possible by 2022.
“It’s not definite. But it is realistic that we could get there within the next five years. That’s why we need to bring in a consultant to look at all the details on how to execute it,” says Campbell. “A hundred percent renewable electricity is within our grasp.”
Ald. Zach Wood, also a member of the Sustainable Madison Committee, expects the council to approve the resolution. He says his fellow council members have expressed “nothing but optimism” toward the plan.
“This particular resolution won’t get it done. But this will put us on the path to get us where we need to be,” says Wood. “It’s an important first step, and it’s one I’m confident we’ll make.”
In 2011, the city adopted the Madison Sustainability Plan, which set goals of obtaining 25 percent of electricity, heating and transportation energy from clean energy by 2025, an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and a 50 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2030. The council reaffirmed these goals in June 2016 with its Energy Work Plan. The latest resolution, spearheaded by the Sustainable Madison Committee, ups the ante to completely stop the use of fossil fuels to heat and power the city’s 300 buildings. The same goes for the city’s fleet of buses, trucks and other vehicles.
But it doesn’t come cheap, at least in the beginning. In 2015, the city spent more than $7 million on power, and that’s not counting diesel used to power vehicles.
Ald. David Ahrens, another Sustainable Madison Committee member, says a combination of energy conservation and energy-generating projects (such as installing solar arrays) seems to be the city’s best option. He says the technology to pull it off exists and is becoming more affordable. All that remains is the will to do it.
“We’ve had a fairly limited budget to make changes,” says Ahrens. “Our budget has been about a million dollars a year [for sustainability projects]. You couldn’t replace the windows at the Municipal Building with that. So we’ve got to really step it up.”
The city has already completed a number of small-scale solar projects. In 2017, the city is set to build a 100 kilowatt system at the Streets West building on Badger Road and smaller solar projects at Fire Station #12 on the far west side and at one of the city’s water utility wells. It’s a start, but only a minuscule fraction of the energy needed to run the city. In 2015, the city used 51.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Jeanne Hoffman, the city’s facilities and sustainability manager, says there are different scenarios the consultant could propose for reaching the city’s goal to operate exclusively on renewable energy.
“You could be very aggressive, put the additional costs into the city budget, and in five years we could be at 100 percent renewables and zero net energy. The information will help the policymakers decide at what pace they want to try to achieve this goal.”
Hoffman says in addition to conserving energy and installing clean energy generators, the city could also purchase “renewable energy credits” from local utilities and the free market to offset fossil fuel use.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin supports the initiative but cautions that it won’t be easy. Transitioning Madison Metro buses and the city fleet to run on renewable energy will prove particularly challenging. Even so, the mayor says it’s time to make a move.
“If we’re going to get there in five to 10 years, we’ve got to start now,” says Soglin. “Eventually, the cost-savings will be there as technology improves.”
Campbell predicts investing in renewable energy now will save the city money later.
“Once we install renewable power generation, it locks in the price at some of the lowest rates. The price of solar [installations] has just plummeted in the last few years. This is about being fiscally savvy,” says Campbell. “It’s also a plan that creates jobs. Right now, so much money goes out of state to buy the coal and gas. If we act on this resolution, that eventually won’t be the case.”
One reason the city needs to step up, Ahrens argues, is that the local utility, Madison Gas and Electric, hasn’t. Ahrens says MGE’s reliance on coal limits the company’s ability to participate in the city’s effort to move away from fossil fuels.
“You can’t be a green player and at the same time derive 60 percent of your power from coal,” says Ahrens, citing a statistic the utility confirms. “MGE is in the position of having a customer base that is more than eager for renewable-sourced power. But they’ve made long-term investments in burning coal and are being regulated by [the state Public Service Commission], which is hostile to renewables.”
After a year of public engagement, MGE’s Energy 2030 Framework sets a goal of supplying 30 percent of retail energy sales with renewable resources by 2030. Spokesperson Dana Brueck says MGE — which has a representative on the Sustainable Madison Committee — supports the city’s resolution to reach 100 percent renewables.
“We’re already collaborating...and if this resolution passes, we plan to continue to try to identify areas to partner and to help the city reach its goals,” says Brueck.
But for now, Ahrens says MGE “lacks concrete plans” to advance its renewable energy sources. As a result, the onus is on the city to drive change towards clean energy.
“If we were getting our power from Alliant Energy in Iowa, for example, the city’s effort would be less pressing because so much of its power comes from wind,” says Ahrens. “But ultimately, we’ll be winners because we’ll have a cleaner, safer environment, and it’ll be less expensive for the city in the long run.”
Under the pending resolution, the consultant charged with making Madison a leader on renewable energy would have until January 2018 to make recommendations.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to note the resolution will come before the Common Council in the next few weeks. Additionally, the city uses 51.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity (which doesn't include natural gas) and is set to build a 100 kilowatt solar system, not a kilowatt-hour system.