Audit For Focus On Energy – Wisconsin Radio Network – This brief audio clip just explains that the Republican legislature has decided to take a deeper look at Focus’ expenses and operating procedures. There haven’t been any red flags but there is a lot of discussion regarding reducing the amount of funding Focus On Energy receives in the coming years. Finding problems would certainly help the Republicans’ cause of cutting energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

Walker Administration Still Intends To Sell State Power Plants - Wisconsin State Journal - Though it was removed from the budget repair bill, there are plans to introduce a stand alone bill that will call for privatizing the state’s 37 power plants.

Biz Beat: Walker Rapped Over Wind Farm Cancellation – The Cap Times – This is starting to feel like a broken record, but Governor Walker’s calls for making wind siting rules some of the strictest in the country have resulted in the cancellation of a major wind farm near Green Bay. The developer, Invenergy, wrote a letter to the PSC saying that they would cancel the second largest wind project in the state due to the regulatory climate in Wisconsin. Also a brief article from Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel.

Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Named Energy Star Leader – Channel3000 - The EPA recognized MCPASD as a leader in each of its 10 schools. The district has saved $1.5 million in energy costs since they began their energy program in 2004. Only eight other school districts in the state received the award.

Green Energy Summit: Consortium To Launch Job Training Initiative – Journal Sentinel Online – A partnership was announced during last week’s Green Energy Summit in Milwaukee that will put $250,000 towards training people for jobs in manufacturing of products for energy, power and controls. The Wisconsin Energy Research Consortium will launch next month with a grant from the state Department of Workforce Development.

Energy Efficiency Program Could Be Cut – Milwaukee News Buzz – Focus On Energy (which may be changing administrators) is coming under the scrutiny of the new Republican legislature for planned increases in funding. The Doyle administration had approved increasing the funding from $100 million to $256 million in 2014.

WisBusiness: Some at Green Energy Summit Frustrated With Politics - WisBusiness.com – The state’s efficiency and renewable energy expert voiced frustration with the Walker administration for ceasing or cutting funding for multiple projects and generally slowing the state’s pursuit of alternative energy. Wisconsin had been progressing faster than our Midwest neighbors but unfortunately that momentum will be lost.

The Green Madison program will launch officially in a few weeks but based on conversations we’ve had with the city, it’s shaping up to be very helpful to homeowners who need financial help with energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements. With help from a U.S. Department of Energy grant, the City of Madison and Focus On Energy aim to provide assistance to 4,500 homeowners over 3 years.

The major benefits of the program are:

• Lengthy loan term – A term of 15 years will be typical.
• Affordable interest rates – Rates ranging from 5-7% will be offered through the financing partner.
• Unsecured loan – Because it’s an unsecured loan, it won’t be tied at all to your existing mortgage and any lack of equity in your home won’t affect whether or not you qualify.
• Anyone can qualify – There are no low income qualifications so homeowners only need to have a certain credit level.

The best part of the whole thing is that in the overwhelming majority of cases, homeowners will end up savings more in energy each month than they will to pay off their loan. So they’ll increase their home’s comfort, safety and value all while actually saving money. It’s a win-win.

So what do you need to do to become a part of the Green Madison program? First you must hire a certified home performance consultant (energy auditor) and schedule an energy assessment (energy audit). Remember — Piping Plover is the only company in the Madison area that includes an analysis of a home’s electricity usage in our standard energy audit. From there, you can contact your own contractors, get bids, fill out all the paperwork, act as your own general contractor, get in touch with the bank, so on and so forth. Or, you can have Piping Plover manage the entire process for you. The best thing is that, because of the advantageous pricing we get from contractors, you don’t pay anything for our services. You get an unconflicted consultant that will save you money, headaches and time.

Call Piping Plover today at (608) 826-HOME to find out more about how the process works. We’re also the only ones who can run an instant report that compares your home’s energy use to other homes around Dane County and in your own neighborhood. That way you’ll have a sense of whether or not there is much in the way of potential savings.

For more information regarding the Green Madison program visit the link below.

http://cityofmadison.com/greenMadison

Legislative Committee Clears Way For Stricter Wind Farm Regulations – Wisconsin State Journal - The Public Service Commission’s rules that were set last year were due to take effect last week but the standards were suspended by the Republican lawmakers that opposed it. They’d like the siting rules to much stricter and beneficial to landowners.

Biz Beat: Energy Programs Get Walker Ax – The Cap Times – Governor Walker’s proposed budget eliminates the Office Of Energy Independence, reduces the goal of gasoline reduction from 50% to only 20%, gets rid of guidelines requiring hybrid or alternative energy vehicles, and eliminates the Small Business Environmental Council, amongst other cuts. Along with the wind siting changes and the proposed reduction in the PSC’s energy efficiency programs, Wisconsin will be taking a dramatic step back in energy and will guarantee our continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Local Utility Helps School Save Money and Improve Its Lighting – The Columbus Journal – Columbus Water & Light, with grants from Focus On Energy and WPPI, will make lighting improvements to St. Jerome’s School that will save $1,500 annually.

Grass Roots: Study Says Rooftop Garden at Central Library Too Expensive - The Cap Times – At $775,000 to build and over $150,000 in annual costs to maintain,  a stuff study by the City of Madison recommends that the rooftop garden not move ahead. A more standard “green roof” would be substantially less to install and maintain and could still be implemented.

PSC: Issues Strategic Energy Assessment - WisBusiness.com – The Public Service Commission prepares a report every two years to evaluate the state’s energy situation. It states in the report that rates in Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest will continue to rise but that we’re on our way to getting 10% of our electricity needs from renewable sources by 2015.

PSC Approves $627 Million Coal Plant Pollution Scrubbers – Journal Sentinel Online – WP&L, WPS and MG&E will foot the bill to control sulfur dioxide pollution at the Columbia Energy Center near Portage. Sulfur dioxide is a contributor to asthma and other respiratory problems.

The digital display

It can be linked to Google PowerMeter, an application that allows you to log in to your account via the web or a smart phone and actually see how much electricity your home is using at any one time. It’ll graph it in two hour increments, by day and by week. You can export the data to a spreadsheet and dig a little deeper too. Below are some things I found in our own house.

Sunday was the day we use the most electricity on average. We’re usually doing laundry (we have an electric dryer), cooking (electric oven) and cleaning (using the vacuum cleaner). Not surprising Saturday is the day we use the second-most electricity as we tend to be home more during the day. The weekdays are obviously less though there’s quite a bit of disparity.

When looking at all the data, you can see that we’ve got quite a bit of variation. Our lowest day we used 8.4 kWh and we used as much as 21.6 kWh one day! Overall, our bills are down 39% when compared to last year. As a customer of the most expensive electricity provider in the state (MG&E), that’s amounted to a significant savings in our bills.

Remember — Piping Plover is the only company that includes an analysis of a home’s electricity usage in each one of our energy audits. The savings can be huge and the changes can be extremely inexpensive to make. You just need to know where your electricity bills are coming from! If you’re interested in purchasing and installing a whole house electricity monitor just get in touch with us. If you’d like to know how your electricity usage compares to other homes in your immediate neighborhood we can run that report for you in no time at all. Just shoot us an email and we’ll send it to you!

Central Waters Brewing Co. Recognized for Environmental Energy Efficiency – Stevens Point Journal – If you’ve never tasted Central Waters’ brews then you’re missing out. Visiting their brewery is another treat as they rely largely on the sun to heat the vast amounts of water needed to brew beer.

Legislature Again Considers Tighter Wind Farm Rules — Wisconsin State Journal – The legislature had previously failed to pass Governor Walker’s proposal to increase the distance between homes and wind turbines. However, they’re now considering re-opening the debate regarding what siting rules should be.

Budget Bill Would Allow Sale of State Power Plants — Journal Sentinel Online – Though the removal of state workers’ right to collective bargaining has gained all of the attention, the governor’s budget bill also includes provisions to sell the state’s power plants to private corporations.

Friday — 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Saturday — 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday — 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Take a look at the show’s website for more detailed information. We’ve got a few free tickets we can give away but they’re paper tickets, not something I can email so let me know if you’d like to go and we’ll figure out a way to get them to you.

A tuck under garage on the West side of Madison

We see a lot of these in our work because they were often incorporated into homes built in the 60s and 70s — homes that are often very inefficient anyway and may already have serious comfort problems and high energy bills. Rarely is there an air barrier between the garage ceiling and the living space above meaning that air can travel freely (and through fiberglass insulation) into the living space above.

Especially in these cold winter months, many homeowners start their cars in the garage and let them run for a few minutes to warm them up. Even in summer months when cars aren’t left running, the noxious fumes of the cars can easily float up into the room above. For some reason, the majority of the rooms above the garage tend to be a child’s bedroom which is now a very serious safety issue. Not only can carbon monoxide enter the living space on a daily basis, but if there isn’t a proper firewall (which we also find often) then a fire can spread easily to the room above. And garages are the most likely place in the home for a fire to start.

In addition to safety issues, the living spaces above tuck under garages are often the coldest and draftiest rooms in the home. In some homes we’ve seen the rooms above the garage are 10-20 degrees colder than the rest of the home!

Even with carpet, this floor in a home in Middleton was 20 degrees cooler than other areas of the home!

So how do we correct this very important safety and efficiency problem? It first depends whether or not there is a firewall. If so and if there is enough room, the garage ceiling can be dense packed with cellulose. If done right, this will not only insulate but it will air seal as well.

Before -- A tuck under garage on Madison's south west side. You can see the dirty fiberglass insulation and non-fire rated wall paneling.

If there isn’t a proper firewall then we recommend pulling down the existing paneling and removing the old fiberglass. That fiberglass is always dark grey or black because of the amount of fumes and chemicals that have been moving through it. We then install fire-rated drywall and dense pack the empty cavity full of cellulose insulation.

After -- drywall has been installed and the cavities have been dense packed with cellulose. The room above is now the same temperature as the rest of the house!

You now have a safer and more comfortable home! Piping Plover is the only company in Dane County that can manage a project like this from beginning to end. Our whole house energy analysis (energy audit) identifies a home’s inefficiencies. Instead of stopping there, we bid work out to drywallers, handymen and insulation contractors so that the work is getting done quickly, cost effectively and, most importantly, is getting done right! Call us today to schedule an appointment.

Renew: Bill Would Slam Door on Wind Development – Journal Sentinel Online – The recent regulatory bill introduced by Governor Walker severely restrict wind permitting rules and will likely stop over $500 million in wind projects in the state.

UW-Madison Conservation Goals Heeded and Exceeded – University of Wisconsin-Madison News – Unrelated to the first article, the UW pledged to reduce energy consumption by 20% from 2006-2010. The We Conserve program actually achieved a reduction of 25% and is saving the university $13 million per year.

Style & Substance – Madison Magazine – Interesting story about Kirsten Joiner, the new Executive Director of Sustain Dane, a local nonprofit that focuses on sustainability.

High School Earns Energy Star Rating - Sauk Prairie Eagle – The Sauk Prairie High School is fifty years old but is now in the top 25% of high schools in the country for energy efficiency.

State Cancels Plans for Biomass Plant at UW-Madison – Journal Sentinel Online – Governor Walker has cancelled plans to convert UW Madison power plant from coal to biomass. It will instead be converted to run on natural gas.