Keynotes and Agenda Set for January Renewable Energy Policy Summit

by | Dec 20, 2013 | Uncategorized

National, Regional, and Statewide Leaders Highlight Event

12/20/2013 – Press release from RENEW Wisconsin

RENEW
Wisconsin will host its third annual Renewable Energy Policy Summit on Friday,
January 10th, 2014 at the Pyle Center on the UW-Madison campus. The theme of
the event, “We Mean Business,” will highlight the importance of
renewable energy to Wisconsin’s economy. The early-bird registration deadline
is Friday, December 20th.
The event
will feature three keynote speakers.
·        
Dr. Dan Arvizu, Director of the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado, will kick off the program. He
will cover the potential for renewable energy development and how we can
capture it.
·        
Karl Rabago, Veteran of the US Army,
Department of Energy, Austin Energy, Texas Public Utility Commission, and
currently a consultant, lawyer, and advocate, will give a lunch address on the
value and future of distributed renewable energy.
·        
Michael Noble, Director of Minnesota-based
Fresh Energy will close the day by discussing the origins of Minnesota’s recent
law  that will expand solar energy
30-fold by 2020 and the job creation that will come with it.
Panels and
other sessions will continue to highlight the economic and business theme, with
additional presentations on new projects and programs:
·        
Wisconsin
businesses including Melissa Van Ornum of Chilton-based DVO, Wisconsin’s
leading biodigester designer, and Matt Neumann of SunVest, a Pewaukee-based
solar developer. They will discuss the current business situation for clean
energy development in Wisconsin. Joe Sullivan of Wind on the Wires, a regional
wind energy advocacy organization, will also compare and contrast Wisconsin’s
wind energy development with our Midwest neighbors. Tom Content of the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel will moderate this panel.
·        
A policy and
legislative panel will discuss the current public policy environment
surrounding clean, renewable energy, and prospects for strengthening it. The
panel will feature Secretary Ben Brancel of the Department of Agriculture,
Trade, and Consumer Protection, Representative Katrina Shankland (D-71st
Stevens Point area). Additional legislators have been invited. Chris Schoenherr
of the Department of Administration will moderate this panel.
·        
A panel on
the connections between research, innovation, and economic growth in the clean
energy sector featuring Gary Radloff of the Wisconsin Energy Institute and Mike
Bull of the Center on Energy and the Environment, and a representative of the
Midwest Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) is also expected to present. Tom
Still of the Wisconsin Technology Council will moderate this panel.
·        
Afternoon
roundtables on current issues and projects with networking opportunities such
as community renewables, Clean Energy Choice, expanding our 10% Renewable
Electricity Standard, bioenergy, regulatory matters before the Public Service
Commission, and renewable energy credits (RECs).
·        
Finally, a
lunch awards ceremony will recognize the outstanding projects that came online
this year and honor Wisconsin champions of renewable energy.
RENEW
Wisconsin’s Executive Director Tyler Huebner says, “The We Mean Business theme
was selected to highlight the tremendous economic development potential for
Wisconsin from harvesting more of its own home-grown energy sources, and
contrast it to the current uphill battle many renewable energy businesses
currently face in this state.”
The early-bird
deadline for registration is Friday, December 20th. Early-bird rates are $75
for members of RENEW Wisconsin and $100 for non-members, and rates will go to
$95 and $125 respectively after the deadline. The rate for government employees
is $75 and for students is $35; these two rates won’t change with the deadline.
Membership with RENEW starts at $35 for individuals and $200 for businesses and
organizations.
Agenda,
speaker information, registration, and more information is available at www.renewwisconsin.org/2014_Summit/www.renewwisconsin.org/2014_Summit/. 
Download a PDF of this release
Another Week, Another Lost Opportunity

Another Week, Another Lost Opportunity

by | Nov 26, 2013 | Uncategorized

Public Service Commission Denies RENEW’s Request to Streamline Interconnection Rules

Another week, another lost opportunity for Wisconsin to move forward on energy self-sufficiency, job creation, and conserving natural resources.

Back in February 2013, RENEW Wisconsin, along with 89 supporters, submitted a petition to the Public Service Commission to revisit highly technical “interconnection rules,” also known as PSC 119.

RENEW and its supporters wanted to streamline these processes, add consistency across utility territories, and reduce costs.  RENEW’s work was part of a collaborative effort under a Department of Energy “SunShot” grant.

On November 15, Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission issued a written order denying RENEW Wisconsin’s petition to improve these rules.  This occurred even though Wisconsin recently received a “D” in a nonpartisan report titled “Freeing the Grid” comparing the interconnection practices in all 50 states. To put that grade in perspective, every state immediately bordering Wisconsin received a “B” or a “C.”

One potential biodigester project was told that the cost of
upgrading the local grid to accommodate the project would
run nearly $750,000.  This exorbitant price quote effectively
killed the project.

Here are some examples of why these rules are so important:

  • One potential biodigester project was told that the cost of interconnection would be nearly $750,000. This exorbitant price quote effectively killed the project.  
  • In addition, many utilities nationally are removing the need to include an external disconnect switch for residential and small-scale renewable energy systems, such as a solar installation on a typical home. This would save project costs and help customers make the decision to purchase these types of systems.
Wisconsin currently scores
a “D” on our state’s interconnection 
rules, according to the “Freeing the Grid”
report. The 
improvements we suggested would have helped us improve our 
report card!

Wisconsin’s interconnection rules were last updated in 2004.  Since then, the federal government issued a “best practices” document in 2006, and a national organization called the Interstate Renewable Energy Council has also recently issued best practices and model interconnection procedures for states to adopt.

In short: the timing was right, the resources were available, and a broad cross-section of supporters were lined up in support of the effort.

Unfortunately, this is another lost opportunity to move Wisconsin forward. 

Read the PSC’s order and Commissioner Eric Callisto’s dissent (starting on page 5) here.

Additional background
information: Interconnection rules governs how
small solar, wind, and biodigester renewable energy systems are connected to
the grid to ensure safety and reliability of the entire grid and utility
employees working on electrical lines. These rules also offer assurance to
potential customer-generators that their systems will be reviewed under a
standardized framework which sets forth reasonable timelines for application
review and decision-making. RENEW’s
Summer Policy Intern, Rikaela Greane, prepared a more comprehensive article on the background of interconnection for our
July Member newsletter.

RENEW testifies against SB 167

RENEW testifies against SB 167

by | Nov 20, 2013 | Uncategorized

Senate bill would make it easier to sue over alleged negative impacts of wind turbines

 RENEW Policy Director, Michael Vickerman presented testimony today against SB 167, a bill which would allow persons living within 1.5 miles of a wind turbine to sue for damages to health and property values, purportedly due to the proximity of the turbine. Vickerman argued that such a bill would effectively end wind development in Wisconsin:

“No other state has adopted, or is considering the adoption of, a
policy that puts wind generators and host landowners at risk of being sued for
alleged damages. No other state has established, or is considering the
establishment of, such extreme setbacks in order to eradicate a legitimate
business activity that supports thousands of jobs in the United States,
including many here. This begs the question, how much business activity would
actually occur in Wisconsin if the Legislature granted state residents the
right, on the basis of an alleged hardship, to sue the owners of coal-fired
power plants, high-voltage transmission lines, metallic mines, non-metallic
mines, landfills, waste transfer stations, airports, railroads, truck stops,
metal fabrication plants, paper mills, food processing facilities, and confined
livestock operations so long as the offending facility is located within 1.5
miles of the complainant?”

Read Michael Vickerman’s entire testimony

See the 11/19/2013  Capital Times article on SB 167

 

RENEW Wisconsin Blasts PSC Over Solar Vote Flip-Flop

by | Nov 18, 2013 | Uncategorized

Chair Reverses Himself One Week After Pro-Solar Vote

Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin Policy Director

At its open
meeting on November 14, 2013, Public Service Commission (PSC) Chair Phil
Montgomery reversed his own vote taken a week earlier that would have
strengthened Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) Corporation’s net metering service
starting January 2014.  
A week
earlier, Montgomery stated his preference for ordering WPS to loosen a key
restriction applicable to new solar systems. He was joined by Commissioner Eric
Callisto in that discussion. But at the later meeting, Montgomery reversed
himself, and sided with Commissioner Ellen Nowak.  
As a result of
Montgomery’s about-face, WPS will continue to offer the most restrictive net
metering service in the state, which will depress Wisconsin’s already struggling
solar market even further.
In testimony
presented in WPS’s 2014 rate case, RENEW Wisconsin, a clean energy advocacy
organization, argued that the utility’s net metering service puts prospective
solar generators at a disadvantage relative to other utility customers. RENEW’s
testimony included figures revealing a steep drop-off in the number of solar
electric systems built in WPS territory beginning in 2012.
The
generally accepted practice among utilities is to calculate the net between
production and consumption over a 12-month period.  Alone among Wisconsin utilities, WPS
calculates the net each month, a practice that lengthens system payback.
“Though a
complicated and highly technical policy, net metering is the principal driver
for customer installations of solar.  Net
metering for solar is like rollover minutes for your cellphone, and details
like calculating the rollover annually versus monthly really matter,” said Tyler
Huebner, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin. “It’s clearly in Wisconsin’s
interest to establish a policy environment for solar energy that is
predictable, easy to understand, and uniformly applied from one utility to the
next,” Huebner said.
At the initial
open meeting on November 6, Commissioner Montgomery expressed support for those
principles. As captured in the Wisconsin Utility Regulation Report, “Montgomery said his preference was to direct
the applicant to adopt an annual netting structure for this tariff consistent
with what the commission decided in [We Energies]’s last rate case  . . . .”
Statement of Tyler Huebner:
“The facts
in this case did not change between the Commission’s voice votes on November 6
and 14, and the need for a stronger and more uniform net metering policy did
not diminish. But this breathtaking decision erases the PSC’s one positive
decision on WPS’s treatment of solar energy, and the result will be yet another
step backward.” 
“For those solar
installers in central and northeast Wisconsin who initially cheered the PSC’s
decision, Montgomery’s flip-flop comes as a bitter pill to swallow. Indeed, the
welcome mat that once greeted start-up solar businesses here has all but
disappeared.”
“Let’s take a step back
and look at the broader picture on electricity generated from the sun.  Nationally solar adoption increased a
whopping 76% from 2011 to 2012, yet in
Wisconsin the number of systems connected to the grid declined by 40%.  Approximately 14,000 jobs were created
nationally in the industry in 2012, a 13.2% annual employment jump, taking the
national total to 119,000 jobs.  Next,
92% of American voters agree that it is important for the U.S. to develop more
solar, and 84% of Wisconsin voters support a three-fold increase in the amount
of electricity the state gets from renewable sources like solar. Finally, based on research from
the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, solar energy creates twice as many jobs
for every dollar invested as coal, and more than twice that of natural gas.”
“Solar is a
growing industry, an industry that creates more jobs per dollar invested than
its competitors, and the people want it badly. 
Yet, in a state that claims it’s open for business, a state where we
want and need to create jobs, our public officials are impeding progress. What
a huge lost opportunity for the state. We have to go no further than Iowa to
hear a completely different tune, where Republican governor Terry Branstad said
just two weeks ago, ‘As a leader in wind energy and renewable fuels, Iowa
should be at the front of the pack in implementing programs that encourage the
use of solar energy as well.’”
“This is the
third decision that has severely hampered clean energy and Wisconsin job
creation in as many months. In September, the PSC voted to suspend Focus on
Energy renewable energy incentives through the end of the year, ensuring that
millions of dollars earmarked for this purpose will go unspent this year. Then in
October, the PSC rejected our petition to initiate a new proceeding for
improving the state’s interconnection rules.  These rules determine how easy or difficult,
and how expensive or cost-effective, it is for a potential owner of a renewable
energy system to connect into the electric grid.  Wisconsin’s rules haven’t been updated since
2004, even though  technology has changed
a lot since then.  For example, that was
four years before the first iPhone even came out. The PSC fumbled an
opportunity to step in and streamline these administrative procedures.”
“These three
recent decisions are job-killing decisions. 
If you don’t think Wisconsin is falling behind on the policies that make
solar energy flourish, take a look at how Wisconsin fares against its
neighboring states.   “For any public
official that wants to create jobs in Wisconsin, give us a call, we can help
you.”
Ranking Midwestern States on Solar Policies and Practices
How Does Wisconsin
stack up against neighboring states?
State
Net metering grade
Interconnection
grade
Illinois
B
B
Iowa
B
B
Michigan
B
C
Minnesota
B
C
Wisconsin
C
D
Source: Freeing
the Grid 2013: Best Practices in State Net Metering Policies and
Interconnection Procedures, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, 2013.  Net metering policy for renewable energy
systems is like rollover minutes for your cellphone:  it ensures that owners of renewable energy
systems get full credit for the power they generate.  Interconnection rules determine how easy or
difficult, and how expensive or cost-effective, a state’s rules are regarding
connecting distributed energy generators (such as solar, wind, and biodigester
systems) to the grid.  Wisconsin’s
interconnection rules haven’t been updated since 2004.

RENEW Proposes Improvements to WPS’s “Restrictive” Net Metering Service

by | Aug 30, 2013 | Uncategorized

In
testimony submitted yesterday in Wisconsin Public Service Corporation’s ongoing
rate case (Docket 6690-UR-1220), RENEW witness Michael Vickerman takes the
utility to task over its net metering service, which it proposes to weaken even
further. Vickerman’s testimony discusses specific elements of the utility’s net
metering proposal, which, if approved, would unreasonably discriminate against WPS
customer-generators compared to those located in the service territory of other
investor-owned utilities. These proposals include reducing WPS’s net metering
threshold from 100 kW to 20 kW and limiting availability of net metering to
energy-only customers. Vickerman’s testimony also describes the necessary
analysis that would be required for WPSC to claim that net metering customers
are not paying the costs they cause, i.e., that they are “subsidized.” WPS has
not performed such analysis. Vickerman concludes his testimony with recommendations
for aligning WPSC’s net metering tariff with the best practices offered by
other utilities. Click here to view his complete pre-filed testimony.


Public
Service Commission witness Corey Singletary also submitted testimony on net
metering. He describes WPS’s offering as “the most restrictive net metering service
of any Wisconsin utility.” His positions on WPS’s proposals to weaken its net
metering service even further are similar to RENEW’s. Click here to access Singletary‘s pre-filed testimony.