Great Energy News of the Week

We have two great energy stories to report from this week, one from Ohio and one from Wisconsin.

First up - A settlement was reached in Ohio with Duke Energy, one that will benefit both consumers and the company.

The settlement, which has not yet been approved by the state Public Utilities Commission but is expected to be soon, gives Duke a financial incentive to achieve greater efficiency than is required by the state. According to Nachy Kanfer of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club, this settlement also gives Duke a substantial financial disincentive for not meeting those requirements.

Kanfer noted another major benefit: "A strong improvement in energy efficiency is pretty much equivalent to an increase in baseload generating capacity. In other words, this settlement (once approved) could mean that Duke Ohio might never need or want to build another coal plant. The strong incentives for efficiency, plus Ohio's anemic growth in electric demand, would take care of all that. This again would be good for Duke as it looks at a possible carbon pricing scheme, and good for Ohio ratepayers who wouldn't have to pay to build a new plant, and it's good for the planet, obviously. "

The settlement will benefit consumers by guaranteeing them fair and reasonable rates. There are also some other extras - including help for low income families, investments in renewable energy, and returning 'windfall' profits from this endeavor to consumers.

Learn more about the settlement in this Ohio Consumer Counsel press release.

Second - Yesterday, Wisconsin regulators unanimously rejected a proposed coal-fired power plant. Alliant's Cassville proposal was given the boot over concerns about global warming pollution and the high price tag.

From our Wisconsin chapter's clean energy director Jennifer Feyerherm:

"Commissioner Mark Meyer held up all of the public comments and noted that he had never seen so many in a case before the Public Service Commission.  Comments against the plant outnumbered comments for the plant by a margin of more than 10 to 1."

Feyerherm said the commissioners all talked about the pressing need to reduce global warming pollution, saying this plant did not do that.

"One of the other commissioners also specifically noted staff's comments that this would be the most expensive conventional coal plant (per KW) in the country," said Feyerherm. "Every single commissioner pointed to the lower costs of the alternatives and the importance of reducing carbon as two of the deciding issues of the case."

Learn more about the ruling in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.