Michael Pereckas (CC BY 2.0)

Series: Renewable Energy In Wisconsin

Energy is an essential necessity of human life that powers individual everyday needs and the economy as a whole. Its sources span millenia, from draft animals and wood to coal and oil to nuclear fission. Advancing technology continues to transform energy production, and renewable sources like solar, wind and biofuels are increasingly used. A growing number of homeowners, businesses and communities across Wisconsin are considering renewables as part of their own energy portfolios. The backdrop of a changing climate is one motivation for these shifts, as are changing consumer demand, investment opportunities and public policy incentives. As the state's energy landscape adapts to meet new opportunities, researchers are investigating the potential of renewables and evaluating challenges to pursuing sustainable and secure sources.
 
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Madison-based Alliant Energy is announcing a $900 million plan to add 675 megawatts of solar across six counties as part of its goal to add 1,000 megawatts of solar power by the end of 2023.
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Madison-based Alliant Energy announced it's shuttering its roughly 400-megawatt Edgewater coal plant in Sheboygan by the end of 2022.
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Five campuses in the University of Wisconsin System using coal as a heat source will transition to a combination of natural gas and heating oil in 2020.
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Milwaukee city officials announced plans to build the largest solar energy system in the city's history. The 8-acre project will be located close to General Mitchell International Airport.
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Native American tribes in Wisconsin are working to generate more of their energy from renewable sources — and become independent of outside energy companies in the process.
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A massive solar farm is being planned in western Kenosha County that developers say could produce enough renewable energy to power 55,000 Wisconsin homes per year.
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A record amount of cargo containing components used for generating wind power moved through the Twin Ports during the 2019 shipping season. The surge in wind traffic comes as Duluth-Superior handled the lowest amount of coal in more than three decades.
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The Solar on Schools program is asking K-12 schools in Wisconsin to consider installing solar panels as part of their energy mix.
Solar energy is cheaper, more efficient and more widely available than ever, but its viability was never assured. Technologies that enable the conversion of sunlight into usable electricity are the products of an uncoordinated, decades-long series of events that followed a circuitous and halting path
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The state Public Service Commission approved the proposed 100-mile Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission through southwest Wisconsin. RENEW Wisconsin executive director Tyler Huebner and Environmental Law and Policy Center attorney Howard Learner discuss the decision.