by jboullion | Jul 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
Utility Responses submitted to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission report that the electrical providers received far fewer requests to connect renewable energy systems to the energy grid in 2012 than in previous years. Read the press release below to learn what this means for utilities, energy consumers, and ultimately the future of renewable energy in Wisconsin.
Immediate Release —
In filings submitted to
the Public Service Commission (PSC), most of Wisconsin’s electric providers
reported that they handled far fewer customer requests in 2012 to interconnect
renewable energy systems to the grid than in previous years. Last year’s
decrease followed several years of steady growth in customer-sited renewable
energy installations.
The solar and small
wind energy sectors were hit hardest by this slowdown, while biogas installation
activity remained steady through 2012. Solar electricity systems account for
more than 90% of customer interconnection requests. “These reports confirm
our fears that ongoing utility resistance to customer use of clean energy is
sucking a lot of oxygen out of Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace,” said
Michael Vickerman, program and policy director for RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide
renewable energy advocacy organization. According to data
submitted by Milwaukee-based We Energies, the utility processed only 56
interconnection requests in 2012, compared with 120 requests in 2009, 146 in 2010, and 172 in 2011.
Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service and
Madison Gas & Electric also reported declines in customer-sited renewable
systems since 2011. According to Madison-based Wisconsin Power & Light,
interconnections involving renewable energy peaked in 2009 and 2010, and have
fallen off since.
“The slowdown in
Wisconsin stands in stark contrast to solar’s rapid expansion in other states.
This contraction is occurring in spite of declining installation costs and
higher electric rates,” Vickerman said.
Vickerman
attributed the fall-off in installation activity to a number of policy changes,
including
- Service
changes adopted by several utilities to make net metering a less economically
attractive option for customer-generators;
- Across-the-board
elimination of special buyback rates for solar-generated electricity; and
- Recently
adopted restrictions to the amount and availability of Focus on Energy
incentives for solar and small wind.
“Solar is a proven
generator of jobs as well as electricity. Lately, it seems that utilities are
doing their level best to keep solar out of their resource mix,” Vickerman
said.
“Other states such as
Minnesota and Georgia are warming to solar, because they see how this clean
resource drives business start-ups and investment opportunities. What will it
take for Wisconsin to see the light?” Vickerman asked. The
utility filings were submitted as part of a PSC investigation to determine
whether the state’s interconnection rules should be modified to facilitate more
customer-sited renewable energy systems. The docket number is 05-GF-233.
-END-
RENEW Wisconsin
is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that leads and represents
businesses, organizations, and individuals who seek more clean renewable energy
in Wisconsin. More information on
RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.
by jboullion | Jul 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
To: Clean Energy Choice Supporters
From: Michael Vickerman
Date: July 10, 2013
Our grassroots campaign is beginning to catch the attention of utilities. Shortly after one county board passed a resolution in support of Clean Energy Choice, a utility representative contacted a board member and expressed his company’s dismay over the vote. This representative said that the reason utilities oppose Clean Energy Choice is that third party arrangements enable customers to use less utility-provided energy, which reduces revenues to utilities. The result is that the fixed costs associated with utility electric service are spread over a smaller rate base, which drives rates higher.
Let’s examine this argument in greater depth.
First, the argument can be applied with equal force to customer-owned self-generation. The impact from a rooftop solar electric system to utility revenues is the same no matter who owns the system. If the solar system results in a 50% reduction in electricity consumed by the customer, that reduction is based on the amount of energy produced by the system relative to the amount of grid-supplied electricity consumed by that customer. The question of who owns the system is immaterial to that calculation.
Of course, the same argument could be levied against energy efficiency. If a retrofit of a building’s lighting system results in a 40% reduction in electricity usage, that reduction would be the same whether the new lights are owned by the building owner or by a third party service provider like Johnson Controls, which is in the business of saving customers money by reducing their consumption of energy. It’s interesting, though, that utilities are careful not to complain about energy efficiency’s impact on their rates, even though a kilowatt-hour (kWh) not consumed as a result of efficiency has the same effect on utility revenues as a kWh produced behind the meter and consumed on site. As with self-generation, the question of who owns the efficient lighting system does not affect the outcome.
Now, if the utilities figure out a way to overcome their basic hang-ups about solar energy, and resolve instead to provide solar-generated kWh to their customers who desire such a service, we wouldn’t be having this argument. There is nothing to prevent a utility from offering a voluntary solar service to customers. This service could be provided to any customer who wants their electricity to come from sunshine, including those who don’t have any access to sunshine on their premises and thus cannot host PV systems themselves. This is one group of potential solar customers that only the local utility can serve in a rate-regulated environment. Remember, a utility can place solar systems anywhere in its distribution system to serve individual customers who are willing to pay for such a service. But they have decided, at least for the time being, to remain fully committed to a fossil fueled future, to the point of obstructing customer efforts to supply themselves with solar energy. In so doing they are walking away from a golden opportunity to serve large subset of customers with solar energy that, due to shading or suboptimal roof orientation or lack of space, cannot be produced on their premises.
It should be remembered that customers who reduce their consumption of fossil generated electricity through efficiency and on-site renewables furnish fellow utility customers the health and sustainability benefits of clean, non-CO2 producing electricity free of charge. The economic reward to system hosts from these pathways comes from bill savings, nothing more. If the utilities are willing to engage in a serious discussion on a fair allocation of costs and benefits, they must acknowledge the need to incorporate adverse health and environmental impacts into the cost of electrical service, and not leave that particular tab to taxpayers.
Summary: the question of system ownership is irrelevant to utility rate impacts. Energy conservation and on-site generation have the exact same impact on rates. If on-site generation is undesirable from a ratepayer perspective, then so is energy conservation, if we extend the utility argument to its logical end point. And, lest we not forget, third-party contracts for renewable energy fill a void created by utility unwillingness to serve their own customers with clean resources that have demonstrated market appeal.
With each passing day, the battle lines between the solar community and utilities resistant to solar continue to sharpen, as evidenced by the four dispatches below.
by jboullion | Jun 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
RENEW Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin, and the
Sierra Club are pushing for the State of Wisconsin to adopt “a policy
expressly allowing customers to enter into contracts with third parties
who install, own and operate a renewable energy system at the customer’s
premises.” This initiative is called “Clean Energy Choice” and is one
way to greatly expand solar energy installation in Wisconsin.
The Eau Claire County Board, under the leadership of
Chairman Gregg Moore, is considering a resolution in support of Clean
Energy Choice in Wisconsin on Tuesday, June 18 at 7:00PM in the County
Boardroom.
Later this summer, a similar resolution will go in front of the Eau
Claire City Council. La Crosse County and Dane County have already
passed resolutions, and if enough municipalities do so the State of
Wisconsin will hopefully be compelled to act. Please use the Clean Energy Choice talking points below to guide you when you contact your county supervisor before Tuesday:
RENEW’s “Clean Energy Choice” Initiative
Talking Points
Wisconsin must adopt a policy
expressly allowing customers to enter into contracts with third parties who install, own and operate a renewable
energy system at the customer’s premises.
- Current ambiguities in public
utility law interfere with customers’ ability to access clean energy produced
on their premises. Clean Energy Choice
affirms
their right to decide how they wish to purchase or implement a renewable energy
system for their site.
- Because the third party
owner provides the up-front capital under this arrangement, this policy will
greatly expand the number of energy users who can afford to host wind, solar or
biogas systems serving their homes or businesses.
- In contrast to standard
utility electric service, purchasing energy directly from a renewable energy
system enables households and businesses to lock in predetermined prices for 10
years or longer.
- In contrast to renewable
energy purchased from utilities through their green power programs, the price
of energy from a third-party owned renewable energy system does not increase or
decrease as a result of short-term fluctuations in the cost of conventional
energy.
- Clean Energy Choice will enable nonprofit
entities to team up with for-profit companies that can take full advantage of
federal tax incentives, such as the 30% Investment Tax Credit and accelerated
depreciation.
- Earlier this year, the
U.S. military solicited bids from businesses and developers to supply its bases
and facilities with renewable energy produced by third parties on-site. The
total amount of the pending solicitation is $7 billion. Unfortunately, without
a Clean
Energy Choice policy in place, there were no bids from companies to
install renewables in Wisconsin.
- Energy from a third
party-owned system either flows to the customer directly, offsetting
consumption, or is sold to the utility under an approved tariff. The rate
impact from these installations would be negligible.
- Clean Energy Choice would help households
and businesses overcome the diminishing supply of renewable energy incentive
dollars available from Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program and utilities at no extra cost to ratepayers and taxpayers.
- Clean Energy Choice will greatly expand market
opportunities for Wisconsin companies and their employees who are part of the
state’s renewable energy supply chain. For example, there are an estimated 135
companies in Wisconsin participating in the solar market, including Helios,
Ingeteam, and Caleffi, three Milwaukee-based manufacturers.
Also, please consider attending the Eau Claire
County Board meeting on Tuesday, June 18 at 7:00PM in the County
Boardroom, 1st Floor Courthouse, Room 1277, 721 Oxford Ave., Eau Claire,
WI. Members of the public may speak at the very beginning of the
meeting for up to 5 minutes each.
by jboullion | Mar 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
An editorial from The Journal Times about how Wisconsin could benefit from new solar legislation. Find the original posting of this article here.
Unlike many other states, Wisconsin hasn’t fully taken advantage of the potential for energy savings through the expansion of homegrown solar generation.
That could change under a bipartisan proposal by state Reps. Gary Tauchen, R-Bonduel, and Chris Taylor, D-Madison, who are crafting legislation that would exempt owners of renewable generation at a home or business from being regulated as a public utility.
The heart of the proposal is that it would allow third-party ownership of solar systems — allowing solar companies to come in and install solar generation systems and assume the upfront costs and then have the business or homeowner repay that over time through savings on their energy bills.
It’s a plan that has been adopted in other states to good effect. Carl Siegrist, a solar energy consultant, said nearly three-fourths of the solar market last year came from third-party ownership, according to a recent story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
While the upfront costs of solar installation have dropped considerably in recent years — some reports put the drop at 50 percent — those initial costs still represent a hurdle for renewable energy, and the Tauchen-Taylor bill could help Wisconsin businesses and homeowners to clear that barrier.
According to a recent Milwaukee Business Journal report, the return on investment for solar installations is between seven and 10 years. But after that, the solar systems could provide low- or no-cost energy for another 30 years.
One of the companies that’s been a fan of third-party ownership is Kohl’s Corp., which has contracted with SunEdison for installation of solar generating panels at many of its stores in other parts of the country. The Milwaukee newspaper report said those Kohl’s department stores generate “three times as much power as all the solar electricity being generated in Wisconsin today.”
“If there was third-party ownership allowed, they would have it on every one of their stores in the state,” the report quoted Steve Johnson, a solar energy developer in Delavan.
That kind of impact not only saves energy and dollars, but it would buoy Wisconsin’s economy by creating a potential groundswell of solar installations and the attendant jobs that work would create across the state.
The fly in the ointment is opposition from the state’s utility industry, which argues that increased use of renewable energy would create “partial customers” and reduce their sales. This would result in a cost shift to regular customers because the fixed costs for poles, wires and business operations would be spread across those users.
That’s a legitimate concern and we would hope it could be addressed in the legislation, but it is not dissimilar from the effects of energy conservation and those efforts have been pushed by the state — and by utilities themselves — for decades.
A low-cost financing system to encourage the use of solar generation makes sense for the long-term energy profile of Wisconsin and we urge the Legislature to give this bill the bipartisan support it deserves.
Find the original posting of this article here.
