Energy Tracking
Many local communities committed in 2009-2010 to the goal of achieving 25% locally-sourced renewable energy by 2025. They joined a group called Energy Independent Communities. The program is administered through the Wisconsin Office of Energy Innovation, a division of the WI Public Service Commission.
The local communities that committed to this goal are:
In August 2019, Governor Evers issued Executive Order #38 creating the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy. The Executive Order also stated a goal for the entire state to get 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050.
On the surface, it would seem easier to achieve 25% renewable energy by 2025 than 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. It’s always hard to achieve 100% of anything. But, taking a closer look, the devil is in the details and we need to define a few terms.
First, renewable energy is different than carbon-fee energy. Renewable energy includes the usual suspects: wind, solar, hydro, methane digestion, biomass. Carbon-free is all the above plus nuclear which has no emissions.
Carbon-free electricity is a subset of carbon-free energy.
There is also the concept of “equivalent electricity”. Net metering and community solar arrangements are forms of equivalent electricity. The electrons generated at a community solar garden are not necessarily the same electrons that power your lights, but you get credit for them on your electric bill. Most energy or electricity goals assume equivalent energy even though it is not specifically stated.
Now about energy tracking: Cheq Bay Renewables has been working with Bayfield County to track its energy use in County owned facilities. A data tracking system has been developed (spreadsheet) where annual electric, natural gas, propane, diesel and gasoline are entered and automatically tallied. 2017 has become the baseline and Bayfield County’s electric bills have declined because of their investment in community solar. Further reduction was realized in 2020 as the newly installed on-site solar generation at the Jail, Washburn Highway Garage, Forestry Building, and Mason Garage were commissioned. 2020 electric bills were $33,000 below 2017. The full spreadsheet can be seen here.
In tracking this data, and taking into consideration the amount of carbon-free electricity that is included in Xcel’s and Dairyland Power’s generation mixes, it has been determined that out of nearly 1,000,000 kWh of annual usage, only 256,000 kWh are carbon-based. Xcel has a new program called Renewable*Connect that can offset most of this electricity by retiring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), sourced from wind and solar farms in Minnesota. By participating in this program, Bayfield County achieved 100% carbon-free electricity and is the only county in the state to hold that title as of this printing. Governor Evers presented the county with a commendation on February 25, 2020.
The Energy Independent Community goal is much more difficult to achieve, and Bayfield County now locally source’s 5.3% of all their energy from renewables. 53% of their total energy usage is in transportation (lots of plow trucks) and 35% is in the form of heating. Now that the electricity component is “under control”, the next steps are to look at electrifying the transportation fleet and looking into alternative heating sources, like ground-sourced heat pumps, also known as geothermal.
In 2022, Bayfield County performed a Fleet Fuel Analysis looking at annual gasoline and diesel fuel usage and analyzed potential benefits from transitioning to electricity or compressed natural gas. Significant benefits were documented including a 66% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when switching from gasoline to utility sourced electricity, and 88% reduction in costs.
Cheq Bay Renewables will continue to assist local communities to track their energy use and solar generation. We stand as a third-party observer to make sure the solar equipment is preforming as estimated, to encourage energy efficiency and conservation, and to make sure the local utilities are holding up their end of the bargain.
Many local communities committed in 2009-2010 to the goal of achieving 25% locally-sourced renewable energy by 2025. They joined a group called Energy Independent Communities. The program is administered through the Wisconsin Office of Energy Innovation, a division of the WI Public Service Commission.
The local communities that committed to this goal are:
- City of Ashland
- City of Bayfield
- City of Washburn
- Town of Bayfield
- Town of La Pointe
- Ashland County
- Bayfield County
- Red Cliff Tribe
- Bay Area Regional Transit Authority
In August 2019, Governor Evers issued Executive Order #38 creating the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy. The Executive Order also stated a goal for the entire state to get 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050.
On the surface, it would seem easier to achieve 25% renewable energy by 2025 than 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. It’s always hard to achieve 100% of anything. But, taking a closer look, the devil is in the details and we need to define a few terms.
First, renewable energy is different than carbon-fee energy. Renewable energy includes the usual suspects: wind, solar, hydro, methane digestion, biomass. Carbon-free is all the above plus nuclear which has no emissions.
Carbon-free electricity is a subset of carbon-free energy.
There is also the concept of “equivalent electricity”. Net metering and community solar arrangements are forms of equivalent electricity. The electrons generated at a community solar garden are not necessarily the same electrons that power your lights, but you get credit for them on your electric bill. Most energy or electricity goals assume equivalent energy even though it is not specifically stated.
Now about energy tracking: Cheq Bay Renewables has been working with Bayfield County to track its energy use in County owned facilities. A data tracking system has been developed (spreadsheet) where annual electric, natural gas, propane, diesel and gasoline are entered and automatically tallied. 2017 has become the baseline and Bayfield County’s electric bills have declined because of their investment in community solar. Further reduction was realized in 2020 as the newly installed on-site solar generation at the Jail, Washburn Highway Garage, Forestry Building, and Mason Garage were commissioned. 2020 electric bills were $33,000 below 2017. The full spreadsheet can be seen here.
In tracking this data, and taking into consideration the amount of carbon-free electricity that is included in Xcel’s and Dairyland Power’s generation mixes, it has been determined that out of nearly 1,000,000 kWh of annual usage, only 256,000 kWh are carbon-based. Xcel has a new program called Renewable*Connect that can offset most of this electricity by retiring Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), sourced from wind and solar farms in Minnesota. By participating in this program, Bayfield County achieved 100% carbon-free electricity and is the only county in the state to hold that title as of this printing. Governor Evers presented the county with a commendation on February 25, 2020.
The Energy Independent Community goal is much more difficult to achieve, and Bayfield County now locally source’s 5.3% of all their energy from renewables. 53% of their total energy usage is in transportation (lots of plow trucks) and 35% is in the form of heating. Now that the electricity component is “under control”, the next steps are to look at electrifying the transportation fleet and looking into alternative heating sources, like ground-sourced heat pumps, also known as geothermal.
In 2022, Bayfield County performed a Fleet Fuel Analysis looking at annual gasoline and diesel fuel usage and analyzed potential benefits from transitioning to electricity or compressed natural gas. Significant benefits were documented including a 66% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when switching from gasoline to utility sourced electricity, and 88% reduction in costs.
Cheq Bay Renewables will continue to assist local communities to track their energy use and solar generation. We stand as a third-party observer to make sure the solar equipment is preforming as estimated, to encourage energy efficiency and conservation, and to make sure the local utilities are holding up their end of the bargain.