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In order to protect our environment and quality of life, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship must receive increasing importance. Below are some examples of outstanding efforts within our community.

If you have recently implemented similar initiatives, we would love to hear from you!

Designer Doors: Manufacturing a Message
Along with producing high quality, energy efficient doors, clean energy is now in production at the Designer Doors facility at 702 Troy Street. Owner Kent Forsland put his empty roof space to work by installing an 18 panel solar electric array, rated to produce 3.9 kW of electric energy and 5,200 kWh per year. This energy is then purchased by WPPI Energy at an increased rate, improving the economics of the project. The “buy-back rate” is a limited participation program designed to stimulate the solar PV market in the community and advance small scale projects for a few early adopters.

The system was designed by Energy Concepts in Hudson and was installed by Steiner Plumping and Electric. The project also took advantage of Focus on Energy incentives and federal tax credits. The Focus on Energy incentive for projects this size is determined by the estimated output of the system and is capped at 25% of project costs, or $35,000. The tax credits are available for systems placed in service between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2016. The tax credits are for 30% of the cost of the system, with no capped amount.

Whole Earth Grocery Greens Its Roof
Property owner James Freeman wanted to help the Whole Earth Grocery become more sustainable with the energy consumed within their building on Main Street. The successful effort was completed in October 2009 with the installation of an 18 panel solar electric array mounted on the roof of the facility. The installation will produce about 5,200 kilowatt-hours of energy per year. This energy is then purchased by WPPI Energy at an increased rate, improving the economics of the project. The “buy-back rate” is a limited participation program designed to stimulate the solar PV market in the community and advance small scale projects for a few early adopters.

The system was designed by Energy Concepts in Hudson and was installed by Steiner Plumbing and Electric. The project also was eligible for rebates through Focus on Energy and a federal tax credit. Focus on Energy incentives and tax credits are available to all businesses and homeowners, helping installations move forward throughout the community.

New City Hall seeks LEED Certification
To learn about this LEED project, click here.

Photovoltaic Panel Constructed at River Falls High School
One of the key objectives of POWERful Choices is to work closely with the public schools. This includes helping them conserve energy to manage costs, as well as providing educational opportunities for district staff and students. As possible projects and initiatives were identified, two concepts meshed into one vision. The idea of a photovoltaic demonstration system to help kick off the POWERful Choices campaign, and provide a resource for students to utilize as a part of their learning experience, resulted in the following proposal: site a solar electric resource at River Falls High School.

In December 2007, the River Falls School District (RFSD) and River Falls Municipal Utilities (RFMU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to identify the framework of cooperation in the deployment of a 3.7 kW photovoltaic dual-axis tracker system estimated to produce 5,236 kWh per year. The total project cost, including labor, material and an educational kiosk display system inside the school is estimated at $45,000. An estimated $11,000 will be funded in the form of a grant utilized by RFMU’s POWERful Choices and Commitment to Community (formerly known as Public Benefits) funding with the remaining funding to be generously provided by Wisconsin Public Power Inc. (WPPI) through a Renewable Project Grant and Power Supply Resource Funding.

This system is located between the main entrance into the high school and Cemetery Road, on RFSD property, in an effort to provide maximum community visibility. This system will be utilized as a learning tool incorporated into curriculum in numerous subjects and serve as a display for the responsible use of natural resources, promoting a technology that will help reduce our dependence of fossil fuels and combat global climate change. The system will provide opportunities to be incorporated into community, service learning and student projects, while demonstrating technologies that will provide opportunities in the future job market.

Click here for real time output data of PV panel at River Falls High School.

City installs LED Street Lights
The City is in the process of switching all the signal-light bulbs at the Main Street/Cascade Avenue and Main Street/Division Street intersections to a brighter, more efficient light emitting diode (LED) type. This replacement project will reduce maintenance costs and driver inconvenience. The total cost of the project was $14,555 with a Wisconsin Public Power Inc (WPPI) rebate of $4,702. It is expected that the annual energy savings equals to $3,936 and the net savings over the bulbs' 10-year life would be about $35,507. The use of the LEDs equals an annual carbon reduction of 70,347 pounds.

Minnesota Rubber and Plastics
Minnesota Rubber and Plastics (formerly QMR) received an $116,900 grant from WPPI’s Energy Efficiency Program to be used as part of an expansion project to convert their existing plastic resin drying process with more efficient centralized system. In addition to energy cost savings achieved with less drying and vacuum pump load, a centralized system will result in less material handling time, less raw material waste and higher machine utilization. Replacing 31 plastic press dryers with a central system will result in an estimated impact of 227.0 kW demand reduction with 1,362,000 kWh/yr energy conserved.

Wind Test Tower
Wind energy is a pollution-free, never-ending form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel, it doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses, and it doesn’t create toxic or radioactive waste. It helps our country fulfill its demand for electric power – which is constantly growing – while helping lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. Our power provider, Wisconsin Public Power Inc. (WPPI), understands this and is committed to demonstrating this by promoting renewable energy generation and the positive environmental impacts it provides. Wind power developer EcoEnergy of Madison, Wisconsin has been working with WPPI and recently expressed interest in having a utility-sized wind turbine generator placed in River Falls.

The first step in the approval process was being granted a height variance by the City of River Falls Board of Appeals on December 5, 2007. The next steps involved approval of the construction of a wind test tower by the Utility Commission on December 17, 2007, followed by City Council approval on January 8, 2008.

Now that those approvals were granted, EcoEnergy plans to erect a temporary wind test tower on the high ground south of Highland Drive, west of State Highway 35, near the Whitetail Ridge Industrial Park. The purpose of this 199-foot tower is to gather wind speed data that will be used to assess the feasibility of erecting a permanent wind turbine to power local businesses and homes.

In the event a favorable wind test study is received, EcoEnergy proposes to build a 400-foot, 1.5-megawatt permanent wind turbine, which represents the state of the art in wind turbine technology, estimated to produce around 4 million kilowatt-hours annually. If construction of a permanent tower proceeds, EcoEnergy will finance the cost of the project and in return, WPPI would enter into a long term agreement to purchase back the output generation produced by the wind turbine.

Falls Apartment Solar Collectors
Falls Apartments, owned by Steve and Rhonda Davison, and located just north of the UWRF campus, just got a little greener. The green did not come from a paint can, rather eight large solar collectors on their roof. The solar hot water system installed this fall will provide roughly 40% of the annual domestic hot water demands for the residents.

The system was designed by Craig Tarr from Energy Concepts in Hudson, Wisconsin, and the installation was performed by Steiner Plumbing and Electric. Since the main fuel source for the hot water heating system is gas provided by St Croix Gas, the Davison's were eligible for incentive funding through Focus on Energy. Incentives are also available for customers of River Falls Municipal Utilities with electric hot water heating that wish to harness the sun's energy.

Dick's Market Receives ENERGY STAR Rating
Dick’s Market located at 1121 South Main Street was awarded an ENERGY STAR® label in recognition of its efficient use of natural gas and electricity. The ENERGY STAR building label distinction is granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to buildings that measurably cost less to operate and improve the quality of our environment.

In considering Dick’s Market for the ENERGY STAR building label, the EPA compared it to buildings of other U.S. supermarkets. Dick’s Market exceeded the efficiencies of more than 88% of stores in the EPA database.

“We are very proud of this recognition,” said Dick’s Market Owner Dick Rinehart. “We made a conscious effort to improve our store, with careful attention to energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR label confirms that our effort succeeded.”

Examples of measures that increased the energy efficiency at Dick’s Market include heat generated by the refrigeration compressors is used to help heat the building, reducing the store’s need for natural gas. High-efficiency lighting conversions were completed and condensation controls installed on refrigerated display cases. Dick installed top of the line walk in coolers and freezers, and has a cool roof with increased insulation and reflective membrane.

“The ENERGY STAR building label recognizes Dick’s Market as a leader in environmental stewardship,” said Weston Arndt, Energy Services Representative. “Energy-efficient buildings such as this one help to reduce our use of natural resources such as coal and natural gas, protecting our environment.”

Steiner PV Panels
The photovoltaic array at Steiner Plumbing and Electric’s shop was completed in April 2007, being the first of its kind in River Falls. The 2.6 kW array produces approximately 25% of the business’ electrical power and sells any excess power back to the grid. This solar panel is estimated to generate 4,518 kWh on an annual basis.

The system was designed by Craig Tarr of Energy Concepts in Hudson, Wisconsin and was installed by Steiner’s own team, which does installation of solar and wind systems throughout western Wisconsin. The project was eligible for rebates and tax incentives that paid for approximately 40% of the cost. The remaining cost will be recouped in energy saving over about 9 years and has an estimated useful life of 25 years.