MGE Ramping Up Solar and Wind Investments

MGE Ramping Up Solar and Wind Investments

by | Feb 23, 2018 | Renewables, Solar, Utilities, Wind

Madison Gas & Electric’s efforts to transition to a low-carbon energy resource mix are accelerating, as documented in recent correspondence from company president and CEO Jeff Keebler. These sustainability initiatives will, according to Keebler, enable MGE to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 (base year 2005), a central objective of the company’s Energy 2030 framework. Beyond that, Keebler states that MGE will continue its pursuit of deep decarbonization through 2050, the year it aims to have achieved an 80% reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels.

A number of initiatives highlighted in MG&E’s letter stand out.

  • Ground has been broken on the company’s 33-turbine, 66 megawatt (MW) wind power plant in northeast Iowa. The Public Service Commission (PSC) approved MGE’s application to build its Saratoga wind farm in November.
  • The PSC is reviewing a request from MGE and two other utilities to purchase the Forward Wind Energy Center located in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties. Chicago-based Invenergy built the 86-turbine, 142 MW project, which started producing electricity in May 2008. The PSC is likely to approve the sale next month.
  • MGE is teaming up with WEC Energy Group, the state’s largest electric utility, to build and own solar projects that will when completed become the largest of its kind in the state. MGE’s share of these installations will amount to 50 MW, which is expected to generate enough electricity to match the annual usage of 16,500 households. Across Wisconsin today, solar generating capacity totals 85 MW. This project will require PSC approval.

MGE is also working with larger customers to supply them with electricity from new renewable energy sources built in the utility’s service territory. Under MGE’s Renewable Energy Rider program, commercial customers should be able to access renewable electricity produced off-site at a cost comparable to standard service.

Finally, MGE is partnering with the City of Madison to accelerate the electrification of the latter’s bus fleet. Madison’s first three electric buses will arrive in 2019. Electrification of fleet vehicles is one of the areas of collaboration specified in a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding taking effect in September 2017.

For more information on MGE’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.energy2030together.com

Eau Claire City Commission Opposes Xcel Fixed Charge Hike

Eau Claire City Commission Opposes Xcel Fixed Charge Hike

by | Sep 16, 2015 | Local Government, Local Initiatives, Utilities

Consistent with other Wisconsin investor-owned utilities in recent years, Xcel Energy is seeking  approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to increase mandatory monthly customer charges from $8 to $18. As reported in an article in today’s Eau Claire Leader Telegram, an Eau Claire City Commission voted 6-0 on Tuesday to oppose the utility’s electric rate proposal. The resolution will soon be taken up by Eau Claire’s City Council.

As of today, the PSCW is the only state utility commission in the nation to have approved radically higher monthly fixed charges for small customers.

Utilities in other states are seeking higher fixed charges, consistent with the industry playbook to protect their revenue, reduce the savings from energy conservation efforts, and discourage customers from tapping into the power of the sun.

However, as highlighted by the table below, other utility commissions have rejected similar proposals to radically redesign rates, and their decisions dramatically depart form the regressive example set by the PSCW.

When compared with the rate design decisions reached in other states, Wisconsin is clearly the outlier here.

Below are links to some great news coverage of yesterday’s Public Hearing on Xcel’s proposal in Menomonie, where residents and members of AARP and local social justice group JONAH spoke in opposition of the proposal as unfairly harming those on low or fixed incomes:

–Eau Claire’s WEAU
–The Chippewa Herald

See the tables below for approved monthly charge increases in Wisconsin and the nation.