APPLETON -- Energy costs will be on the agenda Thursday as more than 100 pulp and paper industry professionals gather for the Lake States chapter of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry.

"This is one of our big ones because energy is such a hot topic," said Jeff Lange, TAPPI chapter vice chairman who is chairing the event at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel. "Energy is one of the three top costs in a mill."

Mill managers, engineers and supervisors from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan's Upper Peninsula are expected for the daylong event.

The keynote speaker is David Borowski, a consultant with Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program, a public-private partnership that offers services to residential, business and industrial customers to encourage efficiency and renewable energy use.

Perspectives on energy use concerns for papermakers also will be offered by Earl Gustafson, vice president of energy, forestry and human resources for the Wisconsin Paper Council, a Neenah-based trade group. Presentations also will be made by representatives from the state's two major power providers, We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service.

The session is being held in conjunction with the Center for Technology Transfer, Madison, a non-profit organization focused on energy demanding industries.

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