David Michael Miller
Wisconsin is a pretty windy state.
While far behind wind powerhouses like Texas or Kansas, Wisconsin ranks 17th highest in wind power potential, according to the American Wind Energy Association, with enough to produce four times more energy than the state’s total electrical needs.
Wisconsin was making progress on that front, with more than 20 wind-related manufacturing businesses in the state when Gov. Scott Walker took office in 2011. Then all that momentum came to a sudden stop.
A law passed by Walker and the Republicans in 2011 delayed any development for a year and called for a more stringent review. It sent a negative signal to wind companies, says Tyler Huebner, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, “and there’s been no state signal to counteract that and bring companies back.”
Since then, a Wisconsin Department of Health Services review of scientific literature found no human health concerns with wind turbines, but there has been no movement by the Walker administration to embrace wind power.
State Public Service Commission members appointed by Walker have also been unfriendly to clean energy. The PSC approved a plan by We Energies, the state’s largest utility, to charge a fee for homeowners installing solar power, which discouraged solar installation, only to have the courts overrule the fee.
Walker and Republicans cut the Focus on Energy program providing rebates for homeowners and businesses that installed energy-saving features, including alternative energy, slashing annual funding from more than $4 million to just $2 million in 2011 and 2012. Since then funding has been restored to its former level, a small bright spot.
The overall message to wind and solar producers is “not welcoming, that’s for sure,” as Gary Radloff, a policy analyst for the Wisconsin Energy Institute, told Bloomberg.com. Wisconsin’s become “an island of renewable-energy stagnation amid a sea of growth,” he added.
Other states have taken advantage of plummeting prices for wind and solar, which have dropped 60 percent and 65 percent, respectively, since 2009. States surrounding Wisconsin have embraced wind power: As of 2015, Iowa had 6,209 megawatts of wind energy, Illinois 3,842, Minnesota 3,235, Indiana 1,895 and Michigan 1,531, while Wisconsin had just 648 megawatts.
The picture isn’t much better for solar power, where Indiana had 120 megawatts of solar as of 2015, Illinois had 57, Minnesota 27, Iowa 25 and Wisconsin just 22 megawatts, ranking it ahead of only Michigan (18 megawatts). No Midwestern state added less solar power, the Solar Energy Industries Association told Bloomberg.
There has finally been some good news on solar: Dairyland Power Cooperative has launched a project to build 20 megawatts of solar energy, and a just-announced joint project by NextEra Energy Resources and WPPI Energy of Sun Prairie hopes to build 100 megawatts of solar energy by 2021.
But the state is still playing catch-up. “We’re behind,” says Huebner. “The potential for alternative energy in Wisconsin is basically limitless. We have plenty of hills and spots where we can put up wind turbines. We have plenty of rooftops and plenty of land to put up solar panels.”
Yet the state has actually become more dependent on fossil fuels under Walker: It now gets 63 percent of its energy from coal, up from about 55 percent in 2011. That’s largely because the Kewaunee nuclear power plant was closed, but also because the state has been asleep on solar and wind power.
Just nine states in America are more dependent on coal, and those tend to be states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming and North Dakota — big producers of coal. There is no economic advantage for this state in Walker’s fealty to fossil fuels. Wisconsin spends more than $12 billion annually to import coal and gas, importing pollution to this state and exporting potential jobs to coal and gas producers while failing to grow alternative energy jobs here.
That leaves Walker out of step with the many Wisconsin businesses embracing solar and wind power, like S.C. Johnson of Racine, Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee and Reynolds Storage and Transfer of Madison. Nationally, 71 of the largest 100 corporations have launched renewable energy plans.
Walker is also out of step with average voters: 70 percent believe the U.S. should put more emphasis on wind energy production, and 76 percent support increased solar. He’s even out of step with his Republican base: The same survey found 60 percent of conservatives support actions to accelerate clean energy use.
But Walker’s position is doubtless supported by the Koch brothers, whose profits are generated by fossil fuels. And they have rewarded Walker with $5.6 million in campaign donations from 2010 through 2014, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. That total will likely grow when the group updates its numbers.
And Walker will need more such donations for his 2018 run for reelection and a possible second try for president. As a result, alternative energy seems to be booming everywhere but here. When it comes to solar and wind power, Wisconsin is clearly not open for business.
Bruce Murphy is the editor of UrbanMilwaukee.com.
