Wisconsin Energy Consumption & Rankings U.S. RANKING
UNITS
Total Consumption
1,789 Trillion BTU
U.S. RANK 21
Consumption per Capita
313 mBTU
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Total Expenditures
$24,356m
20
Expenditure as % of GDP
9.6%
29
Total Net Electrical Generation 6,015 MWh (1,000)
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Wisconsin Energy Consumption Transportation 24%
Residential 24%
Commercial 20% Industrial 32% carbon footprint, but there are always tradeoffs,” says President & CEO Daniel T. Ariens. “In this case, the long-term environmental impact of geothermal is minimal, but the installation cost was 50 percent higher than traditional systems. The tradeoff made sense for our long-term vision. Although geothermal is not our major source of energy, it is a significant producer that is reliable and efficient.” Waupaca Foundry has aggressively targeted energy use to reduce its carbon footprint and maintain global competitiveness. Energyreduction activities include heat recovery for building/hot water heating, energy efficient lighting retrofits and the widespread use of premium high efficiency motors. Waupaca was among the first companies in the U.S. to volunteer for the U.S. Department of Energy's “Better Buildings, Better Plants” program. The goal is to reduce industrial energy intensity by 25 percent in 10 years. “This effort includes the development of energy use and energy intensity baselines, and the ongoing implementation of an energy management plan to meet the 10-year goal,” says Gigante.
Staying Competitive
The ultimate goal for Wisconsin is to stay competitive—not just with other states, but other countries as well. “This ‘war on coal’ will make doing business a lot harder for Wisconsin's job creators,” says Bott. “Manufacturing drives Wisconsin's economy and we are dependent on affordable energy to compete in a global marketplace.”
There are also huge economic development opportunities for costcompetitive states that can ride the “reshoring” wave—companies coming back from low-cost countries like China to establish their operations in the U.S. or Mexico. Boston Consulting Group recently reported that more than one-third of the companies they interviewed with offshore operations are considering returning to the U.S. To be in contention for these capital investments and new jobs, states must be able to deliver low energy prices. For Wisconsin, that means coal must be abundant and affordable. “Coal is a critical element of our diverse fuel mix and helps keep energy prices under control,” says William Skewes, executive director for the Wisconsin Utilities Association. “However, as increased regulation makes coal more expensive to use, energy providers are
increasingly turning to natural gas, which has a significantly lower emissions profile and is in increasingly abundant supply.”
With the low cost of natural gas, there will be pressure on utilities to convert their old coal fleets to natural gas—for example, We Energies has proposed converting the Menominee Valley cogeneration steam/ electricity plant to natural gas. Rail companies are also looking at hybrid and natural gas engines to power their locomotives.
As attractive as natural gas is at the moment, it cannot replace coal. Wisconsin does not have the pipeline infrastructure needed to convert its coal fleet to natural gas. The coal plants in southeastern and southwestern Wisconsin also do not have sufficient access to natural gas to support conversion— building that infrastructure would be hugely expensive and difficult to permit. The bottom line is there are no economically viable ways to replace coal as Wisconsin’s primary source for base-load electricity generation.
ENERGY FACTS
• Two-thirds of Wisconsin households use natural gas as their primary fuel for home heating. • Coal fuels about 2/3 of Wisconsin electrical generation.
• Four-fifths of coal for Wisconsin comes via rail from Wyoming. • Hydroelectric and wood are the largest renewable sources of energy.
• Renewable accounts for about 8.4 % of Wisconsin's total electrical generation (2011). • One in 10 Wisconsin households rely on electricity as their primary energy source for heating. • Wisconsin's industrial sector is the highest energy-consuming sector. • In 2010, Wisconsin produced 438M gallons of ethanol, ranking 9th among states.
• Wisconsin households use 103M BTU per home annually, about 15% more that the U.S. average. But lower utility rates result in households spending 5% less for energy than the U.S. average.
“As always, Wisconsin’s biggest challenge is continuing to provide reliable, affordable energy • Industrial ratepayers make in an environmentally up 0.15% of the electrical responsible manner,” says ratepayers in Wisconsin Skewes. “This means but pay about 22% of the maintaining a diverse rates. mix of fuels, including coal, as well as operating a highly efficient electric system. We must have a sound but flexible infrastructure to produce and deliver power, but also make smart investments so customers aren’t paying the capital costs of facilities that aren’t giving them the most value. It’s a delicate balance.” BV Crawford is a Madison-based freelance writer. Wisconsin Business Voice
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