— Among Wisconsin’s major utilities, Xcel Energy has been leading the pack in the clean energy transition in part because of big contributions from wind and nuclear power.
“They’re way ahead of everybody else,” RENEW Wisconsin Program and Policy Director Michael Vickerman said in a recent interview. He referenced the latest state Renewable Portfolio Standard figures as a key measure for tracking utilities’ progress in this transition.
Just over 44% of the electricity Xcel Energy sold to customers in Wisconsin in 2022 came from renewable resources, according to a Public Service Commission memo on RPS results. That’s more than three times as high as its 2022 RPS requirement of 12.89% and substantially higher than any other major utility in the state for the year.
The RPS document covering 2023 won’t be available until early summer, as electric providers have until April 15 to file annual compliance reports for the previous year.
These standards are aimed at increasing energy production from renewable sources. They don’t include nuclear energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as the technology is typically considered a “clean” energy source but not renewable.
Headquartered in the Twin Cities, Xcel Energy does business in Wisconsin through Northern States Power Company. Its upper Midwest system includes parts of five states: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Its presence in the state covers parts of western Wisconsin, including Eau Claire, La Crosse, Ashland and other communities.
“So even though they don’t have much in the way of renewable capacity located within the state of Wisconsin, they have quite a lot in Minnesota and other states that serve the entire system,” Vickerman told WisBusiness.com, noting much of that comes from wind power.
The utility says it was among the first U.S. energy companies to have 10,000 megawatts of wind power on its system, having exceeded 11,000 MW in early 2022. By comparison, Wisconsin’s entire wind generation capacity is just over 800 MW from 10 different projects, according to figures from RENEW Wisconsin.
Xcel Energy last month announced a new clean energy plan for the upper Midwest, under which carbon emission reductions are expected to hit 80% by 2030 and could go as high as 88%. The utility says it will extend the use of two carbon-free nuclear plants while adding more wind and solar energy sources and battery storage.
Those two Minnesota nuclear plants — known as Monticello and Prairie Island — collectively supply enough energy to power about 1.5 million homes, making up about 30% of the company’s total electric generation in the upper Midwest region, according to an Xcel Energy spokesperson.
“Our plants provide carbon-free electricity to our customers 24/7, including through extreme weather and periods when renewable sources like solar and wind produce less energy,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Maintaining these valuable resources is critical to ensuring that we continue to make progress in reducing carbon emissions.”
Until early 2013, two nuclear power plants in Wisconsin provided about 20% of the state’s electricity generation. But since the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant shut down in May of that year, the state’s one remaining nuclear facility — the Point Beach Plant — has supplied about 15% of the state’s net annual generation.
In Wisconsin, Xcel owns and operates 19 hydroelectric plants on eight different rivers, two of which are slated for “significant upgrades,” the spokesperson said. The company has completed the first phase of replacing spillway gates at a plant in Chippewa Falls, and has begun a multi-year project focused on the Cedar Falls plant in Menomonie.
See the full story here.
— Gov. Tony Evers touted the impact of the Affordable Care Act ahead of Saturday’s 14-year anniversary of its signing, and pledged to continue fighting to protect the law.
“This legislation continues to be transformational for folks and families across the state,” he said Friday in a release. “I will continue to do everything I can to defend the ACA — including its protections for people with pre-existing conditions — as we continue our work building upon our efforts to expand access to affordable healthcare in Wisconsin.”
A total of 266,327 state residents signed up for health insurance on HealthCare.gov during the open enrollment period for 2024, based on the final tally from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That’s a record high for the state and marks a 20% increase from the previous period, the guv’s office notes.
That state enrollment figure was 195,498 for 2020, 191,702 for 2021, 212,209 for 2022 and 221,128 for 2023, according to a White House report released Friday. As of February, effectuated marketplace enrollment for the state was at 257,000, the report shows.
See the release.
— Evers has signed more than three dozen bills into law, including one backed by the Wisconsin Hospital Association related to Medicaid reimbursement for psychiatric hospitals.
The law requires the state Department of Health Services to seek a waiver to begin covering short-term stays for acute care in mental disease institutions under Medicaid for those aged 21-64, according to Friday’s release announcing the bill signings.
The waiver targets a federal Medicaid policy from the 1960s that bars psychiatric hospitals with more than 16 beds from participating in the Medicaid fee-for-service program for adults, WHA said Friday. Eric Borgerding, the group’s president and CEO, calls the policy “an outdated regulatory barrier” that impacts mental health care access in the state.
“WHA looks forward to continuing important work with the Governor and Legislature to address regulatory and payment policy complexities unique to mental health and substance use disorder services that make the sustainability of these services especially challenging in Wisconsin despite the great need for those services,” he said in a statement.
WHA is also applauding state lawmakers and Evers for passing and signing into law changes to regulations for medical residency programs. Borgerding notes the new law will “lead to more physicians practicing in Wisconsin, particularly in rural communities.”
Other bills Evers signed Friday include those related to telehealth, rehabilitation technology, prescription drugs for Medicaid members, over-the-counter hearing aids and more.
See the full list.
Top headlines from the Health Care Report…
— UW-Madison and Oneida Nation health officials have announced a new study to explore risk factors for stroke in Native Americans.
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TOP STORIES
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TOPICS
AGRIBUSINESS
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CONSTRUCTION
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ENTERTAINMENT & THE ARTS
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POLITICS
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REAL ESTATE
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SMALL BUSINESS
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SPORTS
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TOURISM
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UTILITIES
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PRESS RELEASES
