Wisconsin Builder


Renewable energy progress comes at a cost

By Caley Clinton • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Builder Now Daily Blog

Critics say a proposed renewable energy bill will drive business out of Wisconsin, but I don’t buy it.

The proposed state law would increase the amount of money the state charges ratepayers to support energy-conservation projects, which of course has ratepayers riled up. No one wants to pay more for something than what they already are, I get it.

But, in order to commit to renewable energy projects — which I think are important in order to find better solutions for mitigating negative effects on the environment — money has to come from somewhere.

No one’s going to step up and offer to pay for renewable energy projects, and since renewable energy will ultimately (hopefully) benefit ratepayers, I think it’s OK to charge them more to pay for these projects.

But, I don’t think just any project should be paid for with this money.

If we’re going to be charging hard-working Wisconsin companies extra to pay for these projects, they’d better be well-researched endeavors with solid reasoning behind them. Done correctly, these projects could generate jobs and create a burgeoning industry for state workers and companies.

So, cry wolf all you want, critics. I highly doubt you’re going to pick up and leave Wisconsin over this. Even if you did, you’d probably end up in another state looking at similar legislation.

You can’t beat ‘em, so join ‘em. Make sure that money goes to projects you support and believe in.

[Print] [Email] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] More »
Powered by Bookmarkify™

Caley Clinton is the editor of Wisconsin Builder magazine. You can follow Caley and Wisconsin Builder magazine on Twitter for daily links, news and more.
Email this author | All posts by Caley Clinton

Leave a Reply