Insights

The POWER Act Supporting CHP Introduced in Congress

Today, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and  Bob Casey (D-PA) and Representatives Tom Reed (R-23rd NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-3rd OR) introduced the Senate and House versions of The Power Resiliency and Efficiency (POWER) Act, which would improve the federal tax incentive for industrial energy efficiency applications, such as combined heat & power (CHP). Summary of the POWER …

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Lessons in Sustainable Wine from Washington and Oregon

As part of the Michigan Sustainable Wine Feasibility Study, a group from Michigan’s wine industry, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and 5 Lakes Energy spent last week meeting with wine industry members in Oregon and Washington who have been actively involved in sustainability initiatives. We met with members, managers, and participants of …

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WineAmerica 2015 National Grape and Wine Policy Conference

Last week WineAmerica held the 2015 National Grape and Wine Policy Conference in Washington, DC. The conference consisted of visits to Capitol Hill to meet with Representatives and informational panels. The panel presentations covered major legislative issues related to the United States wine industry with presentations from members of Congress, their staff, industry members, and …

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Energy optimization and efficiency are vital to more secure, reliable energy future for Michigan

on April 08, 2015 at 2:37 PM, updated April 08, 2015 at 2:53 PM by Hannah Watts “There was a lot to like in his message,” Skip Pruss tells Kirk Heinze on Greening of the Great Lakes. “He set the bar high and indicated that Michigan should meet 30 to 40 percent of its future energy needs through renewable …

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CHP Interest Heating Up in Michigan

As Michigan policymakers consider implementing a robust integrated resource planning (IRP) process for forecasting energy supply and demand – or an integrated distribution planning (IDP) process that recognizes the accelerating deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) and the economic benefits of demand-side energy efficiency programs (more on this from 5 Lakes Energy coming soon), attention …

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81 Businesses Support Energy Optimization Programs in Michigan

  March 9, 2015   Dear Senator Nofs, Representative Nesbitt, and Members of the Michigan Senate Energy and Technology Committee and Michigan House Energy Policy Committee:   We, the undersigned employers and trade associations – representing thousands of jobs within this state – strongly oppose any effort to eliminate Michigan’s successful and cost-effective Energy Optimization …

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Energy Phase Change:  In One Week – 3 Market Signals that the Clean Energy Transition has Arrived

“Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” John F. Kennedy If further proof is needed that the global transition to clean energy is underway, one need only to look at the events reported in the last week.  A phase change is underway in how we generate, procure, …

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Can We Have a Conversation?

Now is the time to have a serious conversation about the future of Michigan’s energy system. In response to a projected shortfall in reserve capacity that may be as large as three gigawatts, the Michigan Public Service Commissioned has opened a “capacity” docket. Consumers Energy and DTE will be submitting information on February 17, 2015 explaining how they intend to deal with the projected shortfall. Michigan can learn from other states that are focusing on demand management and distributed energy resources as being the most efficient and cost-effective means of balancing supply with demand. They are reforming their energy vision and rethinking their power systems through planning collaboratives that assess emerging energy technologies and services, examine future trends, and bring the best energy expertise to the table.