WED AM News: Dairyland co-op balancing environmental goals with reliability concerns; Molson Coors joins We Energies pilot program

March 6, 2024

— Dairyland Power Cooperative is striving to balance environmental goals with energy reliability as it plans for the clean energy shift, according to a top executive.

John Carr, vice president of strategic growth for the La Crosse-based co-op, spoke yesterday during a webinar hosted by UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Public Utility Institute.

“We think addressing the climate change is critically important, but we can’t do that and sacrifice reliability,” Carr said. “So making sure that we’re moving forward in a planned, thoughtful and measured way is how we’re trying to move forward with our own resource plans.”

The co-op’s board of directors in 2020 approved a goal of reducing by 50% its carbon dioxide intensity rate by 2030, according to a recent sustainability report. Between 2023 and 2033, the co-op aims to increase its reliance on wind and solar from 16% to 36% while reducing coal from 37% to 24% of its generation mix.

As part of its carbon reduction plan, it entered a power purchase agreement with the Tatanka Ridge Wind Farm in South Dakota, which began operating in January 2021.

During yesterday’s webinar, Carr touched on the USDA’s New Empowering Rural America grants program. The $9.7 billion program, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, will provide funding to member-owned rural electric cooperatives.

Funding from the program can be used for energy efficiency improvements to generation and transmission systems; purchasing, building or deploying renewable energy; zero-emission systems; carbon capture storage systems; or purchasing renewable energy.

The co-op last year announced it had submitted a letter of interest for funding through the program. Its application included proposals for eight solar and four wind energy resources in Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota, according to a release.

Carr said the co-op sees the program as a big opportunity for developing more renewable energy resources over the next five years, noting “we’re looking forward to that.” But while the co-op seeks to include more clean energy in the near future, its key priority remains sustainability as an organization.

“What that means for me is ensuring we can meet our greenhouse gas goals as an organization, while also maintaining safe, reliable and affordable energy,” he said.

— Molson Coors is the first company to join a We Energies pilot program that connects the utility’s large business customers with in-state renewable energy projects.

The subsidiary of Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group yesterday announced Molson Coors Beverage Co. has signed onto its new Renewable Pathway Pilot Program. Companies that join the program pay for the cost of their clean energy project subscription in return for clean energy credits.

Under the program, the manufacturer is subscribing to a multi-year agreement to receive energy from the Badger Hollow Solar Park in southwestern Wisconsin. That energy will offset power being used at various locations including Molson Coors’ State Street Brewery, Leinenkugel’s 10th Street Brewery, Watertown Hops Company, its corporate offices in Milwaukee and other facilities, according to the release.

“We raise a glass to this partnership and thank Molson Coors for its commitment to a more sustainable city and state,” We Energies President Scott Lauber said in a statement.

See the release.

— Moxe Health has announced a $25 million growth capital investment from Trinity Capital Inc. as the Madison-based tech company scales up its operations.

The business helps facilitate sharing of clinical information and other data between health care payers and providers, using software that can link to widely used electronic health records systems.

Lauren Cosentino, managing director of life sciences at Arizona-based Trinity, says Moxe’s technology “has the potential to revolutionize the way data is exchanged” across the health care ecosystem.

Moxe founder and CEO Dan Wilson touts the “support and partnership” of Trinity, which provides venture debt and equipment financing for venture-backed, growth-stage companies.

“We’re excited to scale and innovate, further enhancing our Release of Information and Point of Care Insights solutions to improve healthcare operations and deliver financial and clinical outcomes for our customers,” Wilson said in a statement.

See the release and see more at Madison Startups.

— A Madison-based medical device company called EnsoData has received FDA clearance for a diagnostic tool focused on sleep disorders.

The business recently announced the FDA has cleared the technology, which uses noninvasive blood oxygen monitors and AI to diagnose conditions such as sleep apnea. Its existing diagnostic analysis tool called EnsoSleep — which was previously cleared by the agency — uses AI to analyze data from sleep studies to help doctors diagnose sleep disorders.

With the new clearance, clinicians will now be able to use EnsoData’s product to conduct similar analysis based on readings from widely available pulse oximeters, according to the release.

EnsoData President and CEO Justin Mortara says the company expects to “build upon and diversify our partner ecosystem to reach more patients” with its AI health tools.

“Expanding EnsoData’s capability to collect and analyze … signals from simple, wearable pulse ox devices will accelerate the identification, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disordered breathing events, including sleep apnea,” he said in the release.

These pulse oximetry devices are smaller and less expensive than earlier generations of sleep diagnostic equipment, the company says. They can monitor patients’ oxygen saturation levels and heart rate, while the EnsoSleep software detects disruptions or unnatural patterns that could indicate sleep apnea or other disorders. Results can then be delivered to the patient by their health care provider.

Chris Fernandez, co-founder of EnsoData, notes the information gathered by these pulse oximetry devices is “among the most commonplace of medical waveforms collected across healthcare settings” from consumer wearable devices to bedside monitors in hospitals.

“This FDA clearance marks a pivotal moment in sleep diagnostics, and also long-term therapy monitoring and management, where enhanced accessibility and affordability can create a new normal in sleep care,” Fernandez said in a statement.

See the release.

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— Wisconsin Technical College System President Morna Foy will retire later this year after 26 years with the system.

“I’ve had the chance to work with so many talented educators, state and local policymakers, and workforce development partners to realize the technical colleges’ promise of excellence for students, employers, and communities across Wisconsin,” Foy said yesterday in a statement. “I am confident that my WTCS colleagues will continue this tradition of innovation for years to come.”

WTCS Board President Mark Tyler in a statement praised Foy’s “strong intentional leadership.”

The WTCS Board will conduct a nationwide search to find a replacement for Foy, according to the release. A spokesperson for WTCS said Foy hopes to leave the position this summer or fall, but is staying flexible as a search committee for her replacement has yet to be assembled.

See the release.

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