Nicole Zaidel, Joe Kottwitz and Jessica Anderson, Energy Advisors for Focus on Energy
Helping Wisconsin farmers save energy and money
Wisconsin’s farms not only produce the nation’s best milk, cheese, cranberries and other edible delights, they also raise great people — like these young professionals who have cultivated careers in Wisconsin’s clean energy economy.
Meet Nicole Zaidel, Joe Kottwitz and Jessica Anderson. All three grew up in rural Wisconsin and were active in farming life as youngsters. As a teenager, Nicole participated in 4-H and FFA and worked on a dairy farm. Joe grew up on an 80-acre farm outside of Lake Mills. While in high school, Jessica bought and boarded her own beef steers and used her earnings to help pay for college.
Now all three have returned to their rural Wisconsin roots and work as Energy Advisors for Focus on Energy, a statewide program funded by Wisconsin utilities that helps businesses and residents participate in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Focus on Energy Advisors specifically work with schools, local governments and agricultural producers, and each are assigned a different region of the state. There are a total of 12 advisors currently working throughout Wisconsin. Nicole, Joe and Jessica’s regions cover parts of central and northwest Wisconsin. Of all their clients, they say working with farmers is particularly rewarding.
“I relate to their get-down-to-business approach,” said Jessica.
“Farmers are very personable. You can talk to them like a friend,” said Nicole.
“They come to the table with their numbers crunched and they invest in equipment purposefully, along with everything else they do,” said Joe.
These Energy Advisors have helped agricultural producers complete tens of thousands of dollars worth of energy-saving upgrades to their operations that are paying off in utility bill savings.
“I wish farmers knew the cost associated with waiting to upgrade their equipment to something more energy efficient,” says Jessica. “Every day they wait is a day they could have saved money on their electric bill.”
With their combined annual energy expenditures topping $681 million each year, all of Wisconsin’s farmers could benefit from taking a few steps to increase their energy efficiency and reduce costs.
These Energy Advisors stand ready to help power the profitability of Wisconsin’s $88 billion agricultural economy.
Read more about Nicole, Joe and Jessica from Focus on Energy.
