There's one problem with relying on renewable sources of energy that come from nature.
Nature doesn't always cooperate. Lack of rain has lowered the flow in the Wisconsin River. Sam Morgan at the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company says river flow is down by fifty percent. It's lower than that in the north.
That means less water is flowing over the twenty-five hydro-electric dams the company operates on the river, cutting the power production in half as well.
When they are up to speed the dams can generate enough power to supply three hundred thousand homes.
It's not that anyone will lose power Morgan says. It's just that two and a half percent of it won't come from a relatively inexpensive renewable energy source this year.
Utility companies will make up the difference using other sources usually fossil fuel based.
AUDIO: Jim Dick reports ( :56 MP3 )
