Well, it's getting easier!!
Focus on Energy resources
Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control the state's growing demand for electricity and natural gas.
Be a Part of the 2010 Energy Fair!
As the winter solstice approaches, staff at the MREA start preparing for the Energy Fair, held every year on or near the summer solstice – always the third weekend in June. Next year’s Energy Fair will take place June 18-20, 2010. We are looking for participants to present on innovative topics at workshops, exhibit the latest developments in the industry, vend tasty food, and display alternative vehicles at the Clean Energy Car Show. All registrations begin December 15, 2009. You won’t want to miss this internationally renowned professional networking event.
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Our Mission:
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association promotes renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration.
eReNews January 2010
Hello,
Happy New Year!
In this issue of eReNews we are pleased to announce that we
have posted our 2010 Workshop Calendar online. We have
expanded our offerings to include more natural and
sustainable building workshops as well as more renewable
energy business workshops. To read about these new
offerings, please visit our website.
Also in this
issue, we hope you will vote for our project at
Brighter
Planet, and join us at
the Milwaukee Art
Musuem and
Milwaukee
Roller Derby. For more
details, read on . . .
Enjoy,
Gina Sinisi - Communications Coordinator
MREA
NEWS
Vote
for MREA at Brighter Planet!
Please
take a minute this January to vote for the MREA Site
Assessment Program's Project at Brighter Planet. We've
submitted a grant proposal for $5000 in order to produce at
least 20 recorded webinars and quizzes to help meet the
continuing education needs of current MREA Certified Site
Assessors and some of the distance learning needs of people
going through site assessment training. Your vote could
help us win a $5000 award in January. Grants are awarded
based on popular vote. Voting ends January 15. Click
here
to
vote. Thank you for your support!
Workshop
Registration Open
We
have now posted our 2010 Workshop Calendar online. (All
photovoltaic workshops will be added shortly.) To view the
calendar and begin registration please visit our
website.
We
are excited to announce that we are once again offering our
Homebrew Wind Turbine Construction Workshop
(W306)
taught by Dan
Bartmann.
Donor Highlight: Joe and Jean Crocker
MREA
would like to thank Joe and Jean Crocker of Minnesota, who
are long-time members and supporters of our organization.
They attend the Energy Fair each year and help promote our
workshops and activities by sharing them with relatives and
friends. You can often find Joe helping staff move chairs
during Energy Fair set up, or parking cars with a big smile
out in the dust and/or rain. Thank you Joe and Jean
Crocker!
MREA
Teams up with Milwaukee Art Museum for
MAM After Dark: Greener
Join the MREA at
the Milwaukee Art Museum for a unique renewable energy
museum experience. MREA will feature renewable energy
technologies at
MAM After Dark: Greener on Friday,
January 15 from 5 p.m. to Midnight. MREA will help with
clean energy displays as well as solar power for the 88nine
DJ. Other
MAM After Dark features include
green furniture design and a wearable sculpture fashion
show. Please stop by and say hi to the MREA! Get
tickets and details on the MAM website.
Don’t Miss MREA Milwaukee Workshops
The MREA workshop schedule is online with a whole host of
workshops slated for the Milwaukee area. (Photovoltaic
workshops will be added shortly.) For details, visit
the website
for
upcoming workshops and events.
Visit
MREA at Upcoming Events
- Stop by the MREA booth at Milwaukee Roller Derby, on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Visit their website for details.
- Join us at the Duluth Energy Conference, February 22-24, 2010. Visit their website for details.
- Don't miss the MOSES Organic Farming Conference, February 25-27, 2010. Visit their website for details.
- We hope to see you at the Green Energy Summit, March 24-26, 2010. Visit their website for details.
NABCEP Exam Dates Announced
NABCEP has announced their exam dates for this year. The Spring 2010 exams are scheduled for Saturday, March 13, 2010 and the deadline to submit applications for the March exam is Friday, January 15, 2010. The Fall 2010 exams are scheduled for September 11, 2010. For more information visit their website.
This
year we will be offering a hands-on Cordwood Construction
Workshop (C105)
in
March.
SITE
ASSESSOR NEWS
Focus
on Energy Offering Enhanced Financial Incentives for
Renewable Energy Projects to WPS
Customers
This
article was adapted from Focus on
Energy.
Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) customers have the
opportunity to become more energy independent with the
introduction of three new enhanced financial incentives.
The financial incentives are being offered by Focus on
Energy, Wisconsin’s statewide energy efficiency and
renewable energy resource, in partnership with WPS and are
meant to help finance the installation of renewable energy
systems for eligible small business and nonprofit
customers. To verify eligibility, interested customers must
call their WPS Account Executive or the Business Solutions
Center at 877-444-0888.
The following incentives are now available and funds will
be awarded on a competitive basis:
Nonprofit
Match Incentive
This
incentive is designed to encourage renewable installations
at highly visible public locations by offering increased
financial assistance to nonprofit organizations that
install customer-owned solar water heating, solar electric,
wind or biomass combustion systems. This incentive, in
combination with a standard Cash-Back Reward or
Implementation Grant, may cover up to 70 percent of the
total system cost.
Large
Project Grants
This
grant provides financial assistance to small businesses for
large scale renewable energy projects that will make a
significant impact on Wisconsin’s growing renewable energy
market. The grant offers up to $500,000 for bioenergy, wind
and hydroelectric systems and up to $250,000 for solar
electric or solar water heating systems.
Commercial
Solar Space Heating Grant
This
grant provides financial support for the installation of
two types of commercial solar heating technologies: solar
make-up air systems or solar space heating systems with
summer reheat. Through a Request for Proposal (RFP), Focus
on Energy seeks applicants with an ideal site to install,
assess, demonstrate and monitor the technical and economic
viability of these two technologies. The grant will reward
up to 25 percent of the installed project cost for
taxpaying entities and up to 35 percent for nonprofits, or
a maximum of $50,000. Focus will pay 100 percent of
monitoring and demonstration activity costs and will cost
share feasibility studies with clients.
“We
believe there is an emerging demand for renewable energy
systems and these financial incentives offer businesses and
nonprofits a way to mitigate the effects of
fossil-fuel-based energy use, reduce pollution and become
more energy independent,” said Don Wichert, program
director for Focus on Energy. “As these concerns are
becoming more critical in the face of rising energy costs,
it is our hope WPS customers will take advantage of these
grants and the use of renewable energy in our state will
continue to grow.”
To learn more about the available incentives, or to get an
application or the RFP, call 800-762-7077 or visit the
Focus on Energy website.
About
Incentive Eligibility
This
Focus on Energy program is funded by Wisconsin Public
Service as a result of the “decoupling” rate agreement
between WPS and the Citizens Utility Board. Only WPS
customers that currently receive service under this rate
agreement are eligible for these enhanced program
offerings. This includes most residential and small
business customers; excluding large commercial, industrial,
and seasonal customers. WPS business customers must verify
eligibility by calling their Account Executive or the
Business Solutions Center at
877-444-0888.
About
Focus on Energy
Focus
on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and
businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and
financial incentives help to implement projects that
otherwise would not be completed, or to complete projects
sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents
and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote instate
economic development, protect our environment and control
the state's growing demand for electricity and natural gas.
For more information call 800-762-7077 or visit
their website.
Update
on the USDA Rural Energy for America
Program
Rural
Development (RD) is now accepting applications for the
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for fiscal year
2010. The REAP program continues to be a competitive grant
and guaranteed loan program; one of the key factors in
getting an application funded is getting it submitted
early. The federal register will be announced some time in
the 2010 fiscal year. Funding priority will be given to
small grants of $20,000 or less, and combination guaranteed
loan and grant requests. One change for 2010 is that the
program will be receiving approximately $100 million in
funding, an increase over the previous year's funding
level. More information and the application materials can
be found on the Rural Development website.
MIDWEST NEWS
How
to Grow Local Food Course
This
two-weekend (4-day) course, taught by experienced,
professional, local farmers, covers all basic skills and
techniques needed for growing local food and is open to the
public. The emphasis of the course is market gardening or
CSA scale techniques but can apply to home gardens too. It
will cover diverse, low-input, and sustainable growing
methods as well as seed starting and saving, irrigation
strategies, marketing, small animals, and more. The fee is
$200.00 and includes local lunches and the textbook
New Organic Grower by Eliot
Coleman. It will take place February 13/14 and 20/21 from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of Natural Resources (CNR)
Building UWSP Campus, Room 122. To register contact John
Sheffy at 715-346-4244 or jsheffy@uwsp.edu.
Please register by January 31, 2010. This course is
sponsored by Central Rivers Farmshed and the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and the funds raised will support
farmer instructors and farm internships.
Photo
courtesy of Whitefeather Organics, a CSA farm located in
Custer, Wisconsin.
Wind Power Happy Hour – Special Half Day Wind Energy
Seminar
This
month’s Wind Power Happy Hour will include a special
half-day wind energy seminar on January 28, 2010 from 1:00
p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Happy Hour will follow the seminar from
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The feature speaker, Jeff Anthony,
Director of Marketing for the American Wind Energy
Association, will speak on the national demand for wind
energy and trends in the national supply chain.
Pre-register before January 25 and the seminar is free!
Register after January 25 or the day of the event, and the
cost is $20.00. To register, contact Neil Stechschulte at
608-825-0894 or nstechschulte@cityofsunprairie.com.
The location for the seminar will be Cannery Grill, 315 E.
Linnerud Dr., Downtown Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. For more
information, visit the Wind Power Happy Hour
News
Blog.
Commercial
Solar Thermal Design and Installation Training
Energy Center
University is partnering with Focus on Energy in delivering
this full-day Commercial Solar Thermal Design and
Installation training on January 21, 2010, that will
prepare attendees to participate in this expanding market.
Featuring Bill Guiney and Bob Ramlow, participants of this
training will learn how to design and install a solar
thermal system for commercial buildings. Solar thermal
opportunities in Wisconsin are exploding for a number of
reasons: consumer demand for alternative energy, rising
energy costs, corporate and business interest in "greening"
their companies, utility and state incentives, climate
change and carbon footprint reduction are all driving
market growth. Find out why solar thermal design and
installation capability can be a profitable addition to
your list of services. For more information and to register
online, click here.
WPPI’s
GreenMax Home RFP
WPPI
Energy is soliciting competitive proposals for grants to
help fund the completion of net zero energy homes within
their member electric utilities’ service areas. Proposals
will be accepted from prospective homeowners, builders,
architects and school groups. For more information visit
their website.
Design and Manage a Home Scale Forest Garden
Workshop
Food forests, or edible forest gardens, are life-filled
places that not only provide food for people, but habitat
for wildlife, carbon sequestering, biodiversity, natural
soil building, beauty and tranquility, and a host of other
benefits. These gardens are designed to function like
natural landscapes and to reconnect people with natural
patterns and processes. This workshop will cover the basics
of designing, planting, and maintaining a many-layered
woodland garden of fruit and nut trees, perennial and
annual vegetables, and flowers. See practical examples of
ecological principles at work. Discover the qualities of
soil, water, plants, and animals that will help you to work
with them and understand their interconnections. Learn how
to create plant mixes that work well together. A full
day of learning will give you both the theory behind food
forests and a wealth of practical information, including
which plants to use, where to start, and what to expect as
your food forest grows. It will take place Friday, January
8, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the University of
Minnesota-St. Paul Campus, Classroom Office Building, Room
B25. Pre-registration is required. For more information or
to register for the workshop visit this website.
Strategies
for Regenerating Urban Areas Workshop
This workshop deals with issues faced by city planners,
community gardeners, and other urban dwellers interested in
creating green oases within their communities, reconnecting
with their neighbors, and reclaiming degraded or unused
land. How can we apply permaculture to urban and suburban
places? Though land may be limited, cities are rich in
other resources, especially social capital. Well-designed
(or redesigned), our cities could provide for most human
needs. This workshop will discuss how to find, harvest, and
integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable
ways, including getting access to land for
gardening, creating business guilds and
networks, learning the pattern language of the
city, creating public space in neighborhoods,
and building urban ecovillages. Learn how
permaculture's principles and design methods apply to the
dense, rich environments of our cities, and how to leverage
the special opportunities that cities provide. The workshop
will be Saturday, January 9, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul Campus, Classroom
Office Building, Room B25. Pre-registration is required.
For more information or to register for the workshop visit
this website.
IREC’s
2009 New Ideas Conference Presentations
Back
in November 2009, MREA staffers Clay Sterling and Nick
Hylla, as well as one of our instructors, Chris LaForge,
attended IREC’s
New Ideas in Educating a Workforce in Renewable Energy
and Energy Efficiency Conference in
Albany, New York. To see their presentations and learn more
about the conference visit IREC’s website.
Webinar
- How to Seal the Weakest Part of Your Building Envelope
and The Latest in Window Glazing and LEED
Credits
Join
this live webinar presented by Huper Optik and Green Energy
Leaders at Challenge International, Inc. to learn
step-by-step how your city, facility, or campus could save
thousands of dollars in energy loss each year by sealing
the building envelope and enhancing window performance. You
will learn how to enhance your window performance without
window replacement and how to seal the weakest part of your
building's envelope. The webinar will also cover the latest
technological developments in energy efficient glazing and
how it applies to attaining LEED credits, as well as which
window coating technologies are appropriate for each of
your needs. It will be January 29, 2010 at Noon ET, 11 a.m.
CT, 10 a.m. MT, and 9 a.m. PT. It will last one hour. To
register visit their website.
If you have an
article to submit to
eReNews or comments on
the newsletter, please email
renews@the-mrea.org.
For more
information about the MREA please visit our
website.