Oct 8, 2026 · 48 min · 10 segments
Sustain Dane is the sustainability organization of Dane County, and this is the podcast that covers the many programs we hold to help people learn, connect, and take action for sustainability. This…
Nick SchroederGuestBrenda SargentGuest
Dave BenforadoGuestSustain Dane Podcast HostHost
Dave Benferrato, as the slide indicates, joined by my colleagues Brenda and Nick, and the three of us are going to talk with you this morning about the MGE local grid, safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable.
I'm going to start at a 60,000-foot level and then give you some intro about MGE.
MGE, we serve about 170,000 customers with electricity in the greater Dane County area.
We serve about 180,000 customers with natural gas service in seven southern Wisconsin counties.
Electricity, the lights that we're seeing today, the screen that we're seeing the projection on, the energy that is used to do that was created a nanosecond ago.
In 2019, you see that tagline down in the lower left, net zero carbon electricity by 2050.
And we assume that there are going to be some technological breakthroughs that will help us get there.
And I'm going to go back 123 years and just give you a bit of an analogy to kind of explain where we are.
123 years ago, then President Thomas Jefferson talked to Lewis and Clark and asked them to go explore the West.
And President Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to map the West and try to get over what appeared to be a tall set of mountains and try to get to the Pacific Ocean.
They started by going up the Missouri River and they eventually made their way to that very high set of mountains, the Rocky Mountains.
and they really were challenged in terms of getting over the Rocky Mountains.
Dave Benferrato, as the slide indicates, joined by my colleagues Brenda and Nick, and the three of us are going to talk with you this morning about the MGE local grid, safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable.
I'm going to start at a 60,000-foot level and then give you some intro about MGE.
MGE, we serve about 170,000 customers with electricity in the greater Dane County area.
We serve about 180,000 customers with natural gas service in seven southern Wisconsin counties.
Electricity, the lights that we're seeing today, the screen that we're seeing the projection on, the energy that is used to do that was created a nanosecond ago.
In 2019, you see that tagline down in the lower left, net zero carbon electricity by 2050.
And we assume that there are going to be some technological breakthroughs that will help us get there.
And I'm going to go back 123 years and just give you a bit of an analogy to kind of explain where we are.
123 years ago, then President Thomas Jefferson talked to Lewis and Clark and asked them to go explore the West.
And President Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to map the West and try to get over what appeared to be a tall set of mountains and try to get to the Pacific Ocean.
They started by going up the Missouri River and they eventually made their way to that very high set of mountains, the Rocky Mountains.
and they really were challenged in terms of getting over the Rocky Mountains.
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