WED AM News: Dairyland exec touts potential of wind energy plus battery tech; Clarios begins site selection for planned $1B critical minerals project

May 21, 2025

— An executive with Dairyland Power Cooperative says wind energy coupled with battery storage will be a “monster workhorse” for the western Wisconsin region where the co-op operates.

Kevin Nordt is executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Dairyland, based in La Crosse. He spoke yesterday during a Wisconsin Technology Council event in Madison, focused on the future of the state’s energy system.

He called wind energy a “huge value resource” for the co-op, whose footprint extends across parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.

“Solar has very rapid diminishing returns; it’s accelerated very quickly, it’s become very cost-competitive. Wind is even cheaper,” Nordt said yesterday.

He said he expects more solar to be added in the Midwest, but added “the value to the grid of solar rapidly diminishes” as fluctuations in power generation and usage pose challenges for grid operators. Ultimately, he expects wind energy and utility-level batteries will be “the big winners” going forward for the region.

Yesterday’s conversation ranged from the challenging economics of coal-fired generation and the growing role of natural gas in the energy landscape to rising pressure being put on the energy grid from data centers and higher energy demand more broadly.

Todd Stuart, executive director of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, referenced the “huge strain” on the energy grid and noted some planned retirements of coal-fired plants in the Midwest are likely to be delayed.

“You’re shutting off all this coal all across the Midwest, the same time you’re adding all this load that is extraordinary … some of these utilities that maybe shut down their coal plants decades early are perhaps regretting it in the short term, because there isn’t much slack in the system right now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s Green Fire Executive Director Meleesa Johnson pushed for including more renewables into energy portfolios, noting the harm that climate change could bring to the state economy and its residents.

“I love my job, I love advocating for conservation of resources and protection of our environment. But it seems like I’m on a treadmill going backwards, when we have this conversation only about the cost of energy,” she said. “There’s so much we have to protect and bring into this.”

The conversation also touched on the role of nuclear energy in the state, including the potential for advanced technology in this space — such as small modular reactors — and even the more far-off possibility of utility-scale fusion energy generation.

Robb Hughes, head of external affairs for Realta Fusion, outlined the Madison-based company’s plans for achieving this yet-unrealized breakthrough in nuclear science. While he said the industry is at least five years away from utility applications for fusion, he also touted the safety and limited environmental impact of traditional fission-based nuclear energy.

When asked about a recently introduced bill that would direct the state Public Service Commission to conduct a nuclear power siting study, Hughes said Realta Fusion is “hugely supportive” of the proposal. He previously testified in favor of the Senate and Assembly versions of the legislation.

“I think it’s been really nice to see Republicans in the state Legislature take nuclear power seriously,” he said. “I know it’s been a hot-button issue, but broadly, nuclear power is pretty bipartisan. So I think that’s a really good step in the right direction.”

Still, he argued more will need to be done to pave the way for more nuclear power in the state, including tax incentives and funding for siting efforts.

Gov. Tony Evers in his latest state budget proposal called for $1 million to study siting a new nuclear plant and expanding an existing research credit to cover nuclear power. He told WisPolitics in an interview earlier this year that he’s been thinking about bolstering nuclear energy in the state “frankly for years.”

Nordt yesterday also said Dairyland is still in the early stages of exploring applications for small modular reactors or SMRs, which could be deployed in a more flexible manner than traditional nuclear plants.

“We are very much monitoring and looking at promising SMR technologies, and if Realta or somebody makes a quantum leap and jumps ahead, we’ll be all over that,” Nordt said.

— Glendale-based battery manufacturer Clarios has begun the site selection process for a planned $1 billion critical mineral processing and recovery plant with possible locations in Indiana, Texas and Utah.

The company yesterday rolled out details for the project, which it says is being enabled by recent executive orders and federal advanced manufacturing tax credits. It’s aimed at boosting domestic supply of critical minerals, the release shows, which the business says are essential for national security.

The mineral antimony, for example, is used to produce ammunition, night vision goggles, infrared sensors and precision optics, according to the announcement.

“The extraction and processing of these minerals are vital to reducing the United States’ reliance on foreign sources and ensuring a stable and secure supply chain,” the company said in a statement. “This is particularly important given the current geopolitical landscape and the increasing demand for advanced defense technologies.”

Clarios says it’s allocating $1.9 billion toward critical minerals processing and recovery, as part of a broader $6 billion American energy manufacturing strategy outlined in yesterday’s announcement. The newly announced plant will extract antimony and other critical minerals from recycled materials, and the site could also host future investments in battery manufacturing, the company says.

See more in the release.

— The Evers administration has released results of a survey that found Wisconsin families with an infant in center-based care saw an average 11% increase in monthly tuition prices.

Those with an infant in family-based care saw an average 10% increase.

Evers cited the numbers to call on lawmakers to address the affordability of child care in the upcoming budget. Evers had proposed more than $480 million in state funds to keep a subsidy program going that he had created with COVID-19 funds. The GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee pulled that proposal from the budget with its first votes on the document. Republican lawmakers have offered alternatives such as additional tax credits to address the issue.

The numbers are from the Market Rate Survey, a federally required exercise to help states determine what child care providers are charging and the buying power of its Wisconsin Shares subsidy program.

According to the Department of Children and Families, the average annual cost for full-time infant care is $16,715 in center-based programs and $11,479 in family-based options.

For those in the Wisconsin Shares subsidy program, the increase means 41% of child care slots are now considered affordable, compared to 50% in 2023 and 74% in 2022. Slots are considered affordable when the maximum subsidy covers the full cost of care.

— The economic impact of Milwaukee hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention totaled $321.5 million for the city and state, according to a report commissioned by the host committee.

That included $216.3 million in direct spending. Of that, $162.2 million went for: the MKE 2024 Host Committee, Republican National Committee and major contractors’ expenses to put on the convention; the city’s security and other costs, most of which were funded through a federal grant; and events hosted by third parties.

The $216.3 million in direct spending also included what some 50,000 visitors dropped on lodging, food, retail, recreation and local transportation.

Philadelphia-based Tourism Economics, which the MKE 2024 Host Committee hired to do the study, also calculated $65.1 million in indirect expenditures. That included purchases by suppliers and new consumption generated by household income impacts of the convention.

It also calculated the convention generated $16.8 million in state and local taxes.

— The latest episode of “WisBusiness: the Show” features remarks from Kevin Boggs, director of the Office of Technology Development at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

He discusses MCW’s key role in training doctors and other health care professionals in the state, as well as how the office he leads helps commercialize research and technology. The conversation sheds light on how the current government-backed tech transfer model came about.

“My office is responsible for identifying advances in technology — that could be drugs, it could be medical devices — that will improve health care, improve the human condition,” he said.

The episode also previews upcoming events hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the show.

Watch the show here and find more episodes here.

— Wisconsin Hospital Association President and CEO Eric Borgerding argues a House budget proposal would have “have severe and unfair consequences” for health care in the state.

In a recent column, Borgerding said the budget reconciliation bill currently in the U.S. House of Representatives would lock in Medicaid payment rates for Wisconsin if passed into law. Because Wisconsin “ranks among the lowest states in the nation” for the amount of federal support it gets for Medicaid, he argues the proposal would “unfairly punish” the state.

“And while most states will be allowed to use federal Medicaid dollars to reimburse their hospitals well above the cost to provide care, the House bill actually prohibits Wisconsin from paying its hospitals more than 74% of what it costs to provide care,” Borgerding wrote in the column, which was published in the Wisconsin State Journal.

He notes hospitals in the state already lose 38 cents for every dollar they spend to provide care for Medicaid patients, for a $1.6 billion annual shortfall.

Meanwhile, the current House proposal would also freeze the state’s “provider assessments” on hospitals at 2007 levels, Borgerding notes, limiting a mechanism used to bring in additional federal dollars.

“Time is running out to remedy these glaring inequities,” he wrote. “We need our congressional delegation to work quickly and together to change the House legislation and allow us the same opportunities now being guaranteed for nearly every other state, but being taken away for Wisconsin.”

Read the full column here.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— In a recent opinion piece published by WARF, Exact Sciences Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy touts the impact of the patenting and licensing organization.

He says the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has “advanced science and created economic opportunities” beyond the borders of Wisconsin through its role supporting UW-Madison research. WARF this year is celebrating its centennial anniversary as the university’s independent technology transfer office.

Conroy says the group’s impact goes beyond individual companies and has helped build an ecosystem of innovation that helps “startups grow, researchers thrive and investors see real returns.” Still, he notes a lack of early-stage capital poses a challenge for this segment of the state economy.

He notes Madison-area venture funds such as HealthX and Venture Investors, as well as WARF’s own venture fund, are playing an important role but Madison still falls behind the coastal regions when it comes to investment dollars.

Conroy says WARF has done a good job of bringing in researchers and supporting them, but argues for a greater focus on attracting and retaining top talent to compete with major research institutions such as Stanford and MIT.

“Looking ahead, the opportunities are immense,” he wrote. “Fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, nuclear energy and life sciences will shape the future, and UW-Madison is well-positioned to play a prominent role.”

The piece from Conroy is the first in a series of essays from WARF on Wisconsin ingenuity, with more being published throughout the year.

Read the full opinion piece.

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