The Legislature is making some minor changes to the state’s renewable portfolio standards, which require that by 2015 regulated utilities provide 10 percent of their energy from green sources like wind, solar, hydro-electric, manure, and biomass.
But what the Wisconsin really needs is a major overhaul of utility regulations that would encourage utility investment in alternative energy and new technology, according to Gary Radloff, Midwest energy policy analysis director at the UW-Madison Wisconsin Energy Institute.
“We could be doing much, much more,” said Radloff, who adds Wisconsin lags behind some other Midwest states in use of renewables. Minnesota law, for example, requires state utilities to produce at least 17 percent of their energy from green sources by 2016.
Overall, he said Wisconsin is roughly in the middle nationally with its renewable standards. But on the West Coast, California currently mandates that utilities produce a third of their power from green sources. He said there are proposals in California to raise that figure to 50 percent in the future.
On Wednesday, the Assembly Energy and Utilities Committee passed three bills expanding power sources that qualify for the Wisconsin’s renewable portfolio standard. Assembly Bill 596 would require that renewable energy credits be counted toward the standard regardless of when the source used to generate the qualifying power began operation.
The panel also backed AB 594, which would modify renewable portfolio standard requirements affecting four small utilities in central and northern Wisconsin, and AB 595, which makes a series of technical changes to laws governing the Public Service Commission.
Radloff said Wednesday’s vote – which was unanimous – was “just chipping around the edges (with some) fairly small changes to the state’s renewable portfolio standard.”
He said the legislation gives some “exemptions and additional flexibility in meeting the law, but didn’t radically restructure it.”
He said there had been reports some legislators might try to gut the renewable standards law. Though attempts have been made to do that in other states, he said he doubts it will happen here.
Radloff said the conservative group American Legislative Exchange Council had targeted renewable portfolio standards around the country in recent years.
“They failed in every state,” Radloff said. “So I’m not sure there is an appetite to radically restructure renewable standard laws.”
Radloff cited several reasons for the lack of success to revoke the renewable standard laws.
“Number one is that the public supports renewable energy,” he said. “Second also is that once you ask the utilities to make an investment in renewable energy … they don’t want to have to move in one direction and then another and then have to jump back again.
“So I think there are a number of logical reasons to not roll back those laws. I think you could make a pretty strong case why we need to expand those laws.”
Radloff said the feds and the states need to do much more to encourage technological innovation in energy production and service delivery by utilities. Currently, he said, regulation holds that innovation back.
“Right now, the way the business is set up is that it doesn’t allow for innovation,” he said. “Utility companies only invest about 2 percent of their money into energy technology innovation and that’s way, way below many other sectors of the economy.
“If we are really going to be a modern economy in the U.S. and compete globally and if Wisconsin is going to compete globally, we need technology innovation. We need new products and services and new ways to deliver energy.
“That’s just not occurring right now because we have rules that are more than 100 years old that govern our regulated utilities. It’s time to throw that book out and rewrite it.”
— By Brian E. Clark
For WisBusiness.com
