Ingenuity, green commitment shape plastics firm
Plastic Ingenuity's president, Tom Kuehn, poses amid a few of the 50 photovoltaic panels in the company's new solar array. The forward-looking Cross Plains firm also joined the Green Power Tomorrow program upon its launch in January. In the current era of energy and environmental considerations, applying the term "ingenuity" to a local business is increasingly significant. Plastic Ingenuity, a thermoform plastics design and manufacturing company based in Cross Plains, is one such example.
"I've kept a forward-looking eye on our nation's energy profile ever since wind and solar energy options came onto the landscape in the 1970s," said Plastic Ingenuity's president, Tom Kuehn.
Along with his facilities manager, Mark Olafsson, Kuehn conducted feasibility studies on a wide range of alternative energy options "from biodigesters to wind power." They began talking with MGE during 2007.
According to Bob Connor, MGE's senior account manager, "Plastic Ingenuity wanted to generate some of its own power as long as it could take advantage of a renewable energy source in the process. The idea of installing photovoltaics on the roof of its Cross Plains facility looked feasible from both alternate energy and economic perspectives."
During the fall of 2007, an array of 50 photovoltaic (PV) panels was installed along the firm's roofline. Each panel was rated at 200 watts, capable of producing 12,400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year.
When MGE launched Green Power Tomorrow early this year, Plastic Ingenuity signed up to purchase 2% (or about 150,000 kWh a year) of its power requirements. The company sells its solar energy to MGE through our pilot Clean Power Partners program. Customers who install eligible PV systems at their homes and businesses can sell their solar energy to MGE for $0.25 per kWh. This power is part of Green Power Tomorrow.
"As a manufacturer and a significant user of power, we must take responsibility and look for ways to reduce our impact on the environment," he observed.
"Our commitment to ingenuity in plastics packaging means recycling our post-production plastics scrap material and expanding the scope of plastics fabrication to bio-resins and the like wherever possible," Kuehn noted, as he presented a disposable serving plate that felt like plastic but was made of soluble cornstarch.
"We want to continually challenge ourselves and our customers to think outside that proverbial box—for everyone's long-term benefit."
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