Study to examine viability of a statewide solar power project
By JUDY NEWMAN 608-252-6156
[email protected]
You may not think of Wisconsin as a place to bask in the sun, but a
study will soon begin to see if a statewide solar power project would
be a viable way to add to Wisconsin’s energy supply.

State regulators will start an investigation into the idea of setting
up a statewide solar collaborative that would “dramatically
accelerate” the use of photovoltaic solar panels around Wisconsin,
said Timothy Le Monds, spokesman for the Wisconsin Public Service
Commission.

“There’s a strong commitment to look at any type of renewable source
here in Wisconsin,” Le Monds said. The study of solar will investigate
“what its capabilities are, as far as our energy mix.”

The idea resulted from recent rate cases for Wisconsin Power & Light
in Madison and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in Green Bay. The PSC
called on WPL to triple the use of solar in its Second Nature
renewable energy program, in which it pays customers for the solar
power they contribute to the electric grid, to more than 680 kilowatts
over the next two years. WPS was asked to add 300 kilowatts of solar
to its green power program, for the first time.

Together, they will represent the addition of almost 1 megawatt of
electricity and an investment of about $5.5 million in solar energy in
Wisconsin.

“We’re very happy about this,” said Jennifer Feyerherm, of the Sierra
Club, which initiated the idea. “We need to, as fast as we possibly
can, be moving away from the dirtiest source of power, and that is
coal.”

WPL spokesman Scott Reigstad said the Madison utility company will be
“an active participant” in the discussions. He said WPL provided a
$10,000 grant to install solar panels at the new Paul Olson elementary
school on the Far West Side and is involved in a similar school
project in Rock County.

Feyerherm said larger solar power projects are gaining ground
elsewhere. Florida Power & Light, for instance, began construction
this month of a large solar power installation that will provide up to
75 megawatts of electricity. When the sun shines, the solar units will
provide steam to run a natural-gas-fired power plant nearby.

Wisconsin is not ready to look at any solar field that big, the PSC’s
Le Monds said. But renting space on rooftops might be feasible. He
said recommendations could come within a year.

Feyerherm said more than 100 people have asked her why every rooftop
on the UW-Madison campus doesn’t have solar panels installed. “The
biggest furnace that we’ve got is the solar system; let’s use it,” she
said.