The state of Wisconsin is purchasing more than 92,400 megawatt hours of renewable electrical energy a year from three state utilities under a new state law designed to encourage expansion of renewable energy resources, according to The Business Journal of Milwaukee.
This deal represents one of the largest government purchases of renewable energy in the nation, according to Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. Financial terms for the purchase were not immediately disclosed.
"Government should be a clean energy leader, and the state of Wisconsin is taking major steps to lead the way and improve our energy independence," Doyle noted in a press release. "This purchase will help encourage expansion of renewable energy sources in Wisconsin and keep our energy dollars in the local economy."
In 2006, Doyle signed the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Act into law, which requires key state agencies and university campuses to purchase 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by the end of 2011. The 92,400 MWh annual purchase equals 10 percent of the energy consumed by the Department of Health and Family Services, Department of Corrections, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Administration, Department of Public Instruction and the University of Wisconsin System, according to Doyle.
The renewable electricity will be purchased from Madison Gas and Electric, We Energies of Milwaukee, and Wisconsin Public Power Inc. of Sun Prairie.
