FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 1996
Conservation Clubs Declaring Opposition to Deregulated Electric Utilities
Citing widespread mercury contamination in state gamefish and a host of other environmental concerns, several Northeast Wisconsin area conservation clubs, including the Brown County Conservation Alliance, Oconto County Conservation Alliance, Outagamie Conservation Club and others have all signed on to resolutions opposing the deregulation of electric utilities in Wisconsin.
"Outdoor sports lovers in Wisconsin have been and ought to be concerned about key sources of air and water pollution," says Fred Gossfeld, a spokesman for the Oconto Conservation Alliance. "We want our government officials to know that reducing pollution from electric utilities is our first concern. Developing locally available, cleaner sources of energy like wind power and crop combustion should be the goal of state energy policy. That's not likely to happen under deregulation."
Deregulation has been proposed by the state's three largest investor owned utilities. These companies want to sell power out of their traditional service territory, with significantly relaxed rate regulation and environmental controls. The proposal received guarded support from the WI Public Service Commission late last year. The Commission cited environmental concerns in its recommendations to the legislature, as well as concerns about the fate of energy efficiency and renewable energy development in Wisconsin. -more- According to state pollution emissions inventories, electric utilities are responsible for more than 60% of all regulated air pollutants, including 2/3 of all acid rain emissions, 2/3 of nitrogen oxides - a main ingredient in ground-level ozone formation, about 20% of all particulates, and 60% of all mercury. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Health Guide for People Who Eat Sport Fish from Wisconsin Waters lists 277 lakes and river segments which contain fish with unsafe levels of mercury. Reservoir Pond in Oconto County was added to the list last year. Marinette, Landglade, Shawano, and Oneida Counties have been especially hard hit with mercury contamination.
"It's just a matter of time," says Bruce Deuchert of the Brown County Conservation Alliance, "before further testing turns up contamination here. There's no logical reason why Brown County would be immune. Mercury emissions can travel 100s of miles."
Other conservation minded groups with concerns about deregulating electric companies include the WI Council of Sportfishing Organizations, representing 63 fishing clubs statewide, the Fox Valley Sierra Club, and the Door County Environmental Council. All of these groups have joined the Local Energy and Economic Development Coalition (LEED), a burgeoning coalition of consumer, small business, labor, health, environmental and civic organizations in opposing blanket deregulation of electric utilities.
All of these groups want better progress toward efficiency, energy conservation and cleaner renewable fuels. They see continued public involvement in decisions about state energy policy as essential to protecting Wisconsin's resources and its consumers. They assert that under deregulation, electric companies will drop investments in renewable energy and conservation, while also cutting service standards and reducing maintenance, all in an effort to reduce overhead and achieve the lowest possible rates for potential new customers in Illinois and beyond.
"Rates and environmental impacts are closely linked," says Sam Gieryn, a coordinator with the Local Energy and Economic Development Coalition. "Past decisions by Wisconsin regulators to disallow unneeded power plants, to require investments in efficiency and to promote clean energy technology has resulted in some of the lowest rates in the nation and a comparatively clean environment. Unfortunately, deregulation threatens the public's authority over electric companies and the progress that we've made."
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