It's not just the company's two snappy, little hybrid electric cars that are drawing attention to Wisconsin Public Power Inc.

The nonprofit regional power company:

• Is doubling the size of its Sun Prairie headquarters to nearly 50,000 square feet and outfitting the offices for the highest level of energy efficiency.

• Signed its 50th municipal electric company, in Preston, Iowa, as a member last month.

• Will reach state goals for renewable energy use —
10 percent by 2015 — six years ahead of time.
So maybe those hybrid vehicles — painted sky blue, with the face of a young boy blowing dandelion seeds into the wind and the slogan, "Why just wish for a clean energy future?" — symbolize what WPPI is all about.

In an industry increasingly dominated by big, powerful, publicly traded utility companies, WPPI, founded nearly 30 years ago, has carved a niche of its own.

"They are a national model, in terms of communities working together on energy issues," said David Benforado, executive director of Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin.

Municipal power

Established in 1980 after passage of a state law allowing its formation, WPPI provides power for 50 electric utilities owned and operated by municipal governments in Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northeast Iowa.

As WPPI members, they have a voice in guiding its path under their 35-year contracts.

"For a small utility, up here surrounded by the 'big boys' — WPS (Wisconsin Public Service of Green Bay) and We Energies (of Milwaukee) — belonging to WPPI lets us offer some of the same benefits to our customers that they can provide. And we don't have to extend our resources to do it," said Patrick Weber, fire chief, acting manager of the Eagle River Light & Water Utility, and one of the utility's three journeyman linemen.

Programs ranging from home energy audits for customers to weed spraying under power lines are available through WPPI, Weber said. "They have a blanket purchasing program. We don't have to go out and get bids," he said.

Gladstone (Mich.) Power & Light joined WPPI two years ago even though it's still under contract for another year to buy power from Upper Peninsula Power Co.

WPPI's rates are 20 percent to 25 percent cheaper, electrical superintendent Tom White said. By 2012, "our rates will go down," White said.

WPPI also provides compact fluorescent light bulbs that the Gladstone utility gives away and $500 scholarships for students to attend a pre-apprentice lineman school. "It helps (students) buy tools and stay in school," White said.

Fifth largest in state

Led by president and chief executive Roy Thilly since 1992, WPPI has become the fifth-largest electric utility company in Wisconsin, providing electricity for nearly 200,000 homes and businesses, bringing in annual revenue of $339 million and employing more than 85 people.

Thilly, a New York native who majored in English at Columbia University, served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines for three years, then earned his law degree at UW-Madison.

As WPPI's chief, Thilly has taken a lead role on issues such as advance planning and energy conservation. He was co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming, whose report, issued in July, made 63 recommendations for reducing harmful emissions in Wisconsin.

Thilly also is a past president of the American Public Power Association, a Washington, D.C., organization representing more than 2,000 community-owned electric utilities nationwide.

"Roy has been a recognized leader in public power, as well as some of his staff, for many years," said association chief executive Mark Crisson.

Thilly has championed efforts to cut energy use. "We believe energy conservation and efficiency is the most important thing we can do … to keep utility costs down in a rising-cost environment," he said.

"It's hard, if you're a profit-making business, to tell your customers not to buy your product. For us, if we sell less (electricity), that's good for our communities.
"If (WPPI) revenues go down somewhat, that's all right. If our communities get all the power they need, it's going to reduce costs and keep their economies good," he said.

Investing in efficiency

WPPI is not shy about spending money toward its goals. Funds for energy efficiency and conservation programs by member utilities in 2009 will total $9 million, more than three times the $2.4 million set aside in 2006.

WPPI didn't just add its own hybrid cars last year, converting two Toyota Prius cars into plug-in electric vehicles. It also offered incentives of up to $15,000 to its members to go electric. Four member utilities bought hybrids and expect to convert them into plug-in electric vehicles this fall while six bought battery-powered electric vehicles for their fleets in 2007.

Based on the first year's use, the plug-ins average 74 miles per gallon. Their lithium-ion batteries last about 35 miles per charge and are the sole power source to the cars when they're traveling under 35 miles per hour.

For its Sun Prairie offices, WPPI installed two photovoltaic solar panels in 2007. The panels tilt to meet the position of the sun. They supplement the renewable power bought from member Sun Prairie Water & Light to make WPPI's Sun Prairie headquarters fueled 100 percent by renewables.

In 2005, WPPI set a goal of reducing energy use by 10 percent within two years. Instead, the utility one-upped itself, hitting a 15 percent reduction in 18 months through steps such as retooling its heating and cooling systems, adding dimmer switches and unplugging some of its lights, all of which are fluorescent.

"We can't be out there aggressively promoting conservation and efficiency without doing it ourselves," Thilly said. Now, WPPI is working on a total 20 percent cut by the end of 2009.

Its new addition will help. Designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold standard, features include windows placed to maximize sunlight and solar tubes embedded with mirrors to magnify the light. When the addition is completed, the older half of the building will be upgraded to match the efficiency level, for a total project cost of $6.9 million.

Thilly has challenged member utilities to cut their electricity use and to encourage their customers to pay extra to use renewable power. Four WPPI communities — Stoughton, Lake Mills, Oconto Falls and River Falls — signed up more than 4 percent of their customers for green power in 2007, compared with the national average of 1.8 percent participation, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In fact, River Falls Municipal Utilities ranked ninth in the U.S., with 5.3 percent of its residential customers buying green power.

Wind power

WPPI is bulking up on wind power resources to meet the demand. The utility owns two turbines of a wind farm in Minnesota, with a maximum capacity of 2 megawatts, and has contracted for another 120 megawatts of wind energy from several other wind farms in Wisconsin and Iowa.

The utility also owns parts of the We Energies coal-fired power plant under construction in Oak Creek and a coal-fired unit in Minnesota and three natural gas-fueled turbines. In all, WPPI owns enough generation to cover about 40 percent of its members' needs and buys the rest through long-term contracts and on the open market.

For the future, Thilly said he thinks WPPI may add members, as it grows harder for small municipalities to navigate the changing environment.

His mission will continue to be: conservation. "If people use energy more wisely, we don't have to build as many power plants. And that will save everybody money," Thilly said.

COMPANY PROFILE

Wisconsin Public Power Inc.

Address: 1425 Corporate Center Drive, Sun Prairie
President and chief executive officer: Roy Thilly

Established: 1980

Service: Provides electricity and related services to 50 municipally owned utilities in Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northeast Iowa, with a total of nearly 200,000 customers

2007 annual revenue: $339 million

Employees: More than 85

Web site: www.wppisys.org

WPPI MEMBER UTILITIES

WISCONSIN

Algoma

Black River Falls

Boscobel

Brodhead

Cedarburg

Columbus

Cuba City

Eagle River

Evansville

Florence

Hartford

Hustisford

Jefferson

Juneau

Kaukauna

Lake Mills

Lodi

Menasha

Mount Horeb

Muscoda

New Glarus

New Holstein

New London

New Richmond

Oconomowoc

Oconto Falls

Plymouth

Prairie du Sac

Reedsburg

Richland Center

River Falls

Slinger

Stoughton

Sturgeon Bay

Sun Prairie

Two Rivers

Waterloo

Waunakee

Waupun

Westby

Whitehall

MICHIGAN

Alger Delta

Baraga

Gladstone

L'Anse

Negaunee

Norway

IOWA

Independence

Maquoketa

Preston