For immediate release: January 21, 2010

For More Information Contact:
Adrienne Joseph
715-214-7244
ajoseph@wisconsinfarmersunion.com

WFU policy priorities included in Clean Energy Jobs Act

Chippewa Falls, Wis. (January 21, 2010) - Three programs from the Wisconsin Farmers Union's Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign will be included in Wisconsin's Clean Energy Jobs Act. During a news conference today with Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Rod Nilsestuen, WFU Executive Director Scott Schultz said the farm organization is encouraged by the inclusion of several provisions in the bill that would benefit family farmers.

"This bill has potential for setting Wisconsin up for economic success by playing to family farmers' strengths," Schultz said. "The bill recognizes that farmers are part of the solution-not the problem-in securing a future rooted in homegrown, renewable energy."

One of the bill's provisions allows the Public Service Commission to set known buyback rates for the generation of renewable energy on the farm.

"Farmers and landowners who build cost-effective renewable energy installations will have guaranteed fixed rates to sell their electricity," Schultz said. "Electric companies will see benefits from those installations by receiving clean-energy credits that can be used in meeting state requirements."

Schultz said Wisconsin would raise the bar on its homegrown, renewable energy goals by setting mandates for clean-energy production.

"The bill would move Wisconsin closer to a low-carbon fuel standard that evaluates transportation fuels based on the fuel's emissions from well to wheel. Those initiatives would generate demand for cleaner bioenergy crops, which will create new income streams for farmers and rural communities," he said.

Another provision calls on the state to create and implement a bioenergy crop reserve program that would create incentives for farmers to meet the state's bioenergy crop demand. This program was also a priority of the Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign.

The Wisconsin Farmers Union launched the Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign in December 2008 as a way to generate support for programs that would create economic opportunities for clean energy and family farmers.

"WFU looks forward to working with state legislators, Secretary Nilsestuen and Gov. Doyle to ensure Wisconsin can achieve a homegrown renewable energy future," Schultz said.