Advance or Retreat?
Constructing a Viable Policy Road Map for
Renewables (Mostly Solar) in Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
Sustainability Summit, March 7, 2013
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
About RENEW Wisconsin
Advocates for state-level sustainable
energy policies since 1991
One of the architects of the state’s
Renewable Energy Standard and
ratepayer-funded public benefits
program
Founded in 1991
Nonprofit – funding comes from
grants, members
Sunny morning (10-21-11)
Over 250 members (businesses and
individual)
Aldo Leopold Legacy Center
Baraboo
An organized voice for renewable
energy producers and purchasers
Installer: H&H Solar
Please join!
We Have to Stop Outsourcing Energy Capture
and Start Doing It Ourselves
My house
Value Proposition to Society
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Emission-free
Non-depleting
Indigenous
Highly secure
Rooftop - Osceola Middle School
Osceola, WI
OUR VISION FOR
WISCONSIN
This Brewery Has a
Long-Term Future
Central Waters Brewing
Company
Amherst
PV, 20 kW, 2011
SHW 960 sq. ft., 2009
2 MW, 14 million kWh/yr
Town of Westport
Epic Systems, Verona
1.8 MW solar field
January 2012
Epic Systems, Verona
May 2011
360 kW array over parking deck
Wisconsin’s First
Community Wind Project
5 MW (2 turbines)
Cashton Greens
Cashton, WI
June 2012
Sweet Earth Farm
Soldiers Grove
14.7 kW
Full Spectrum Solar
June 2012
Port of Milwaukee Wind Turbine
Northwind 100 kW
Installer: Kettle View RE
May 2012
SC Johnson Wind Turbines
Mt. Pleasant (Racine County)
3 MW, 2 turbines, Dec. 2012
Behind the meter
SIZING UP WISCONSIN’S
RENEWABLE ENERGY
ENVIRONMENT
Renewable Energy Policy Successes
1999 -2009
 1999 - Focus on Energy RE/Initial RE Standard
 2002 – We Energies Renewable Energy Commitment
 2006 - Strengthened RE Standard (10% by 2015)
 2006 – Strengthened Focus on Energy
 2006 – State of Wisconsin RE Purchase Requirement
 2009 – Wind Energy Siting Law
Renewable Energy Policy Reversals
2010 - 2013
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Clean Energy Jobs Act Goes Down the Tubes
Legislature Slashes 2012 Focus Budget By 20%
We Energies Abruptly Terminates RE Program
PSC Suspend RE Incentives (2011), Then Restricts Solar
Incentives (2012)
Legislature Waters Down RES w/ Canadian Hydro
Legislature Suspends Wind Energy Siting Rule
PSC Jacks Up Green Power Premiums
PSC Rejects Highland Wind Farm
Institutional, Economic and Cultural
Challenges Abound
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Natural gas prices project illusion of cheap energy
WI utilities in denial about coal’s liabilities
Electricity sales are stagnant
WI utilities have not figured out how to make solar
work for them.
Solar Energy Power Association
Washington, D.C. – On March 1, 2013, Georgia Power launched
its Advanced Solar Initiative to grow solar resources in the
state by opening the application process for distributed solar
generation.
The Georgia Public Service Commission
approved the program in November 2012,
allowing the southeastern utility to acquire 45
MW of solar capacity via distributed generation
and 60 MW via competitive RFP in both 2013
and 2014. When fully implemented, Georgia will
benefit from an additional 210 MW of clean
solar power under long-term contracts.
A Frank Appraisal of Wisconsin’s
Political Environment
 Firmly entrenched one-party control
 Ideology shaping policy, fueled by corporate
$$$ and ALEC to manufacture grievances
 Only U.S. state that has a realtors association
opposed to windpower
 Clean energy an orphan in this milieu
Kewaunee v. WI RES
 6% of total WI
generation now
 4.2 billion kWh/yr now
 Zero carbon generation
 6% of total WI sales by
2015 (really 2018)
 3.7 billion kWh/yr now
 Low to zero carbon
generation
Kewaunee’s retirement will effectively negate the clean air and
CO2 reduction benefits leveraged by Wisconsin’s Renewable
Electricity Standard
MIDWEST ENERGY NEWS
March 4, 2012
Commentary: Wisconsin legislature weighs
nuclear option for renewables
AB 34 introduced to allow nuclear to count towards
Wisconsin’s 10% renewable requirement by 2015
“Only in Wisconsin will you find lawmakers who
treat renewable energy as though it were
radioactive.”
http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/03/04/commentary-wisconsin-legislature-weighs-nuclear-option-for-renewables/
Minnesota v. Wisconsin
Has 25% RES by 2025
• Has 10% RES by 2015
2013 bills
 Increase RES to 40% by
2030 (soon to be
introduced)
 Establish a 10% solar
standard by 2030
2013 bills
 Decrease RES to 2011
levels (8.88%)
 Count nuclear toward
10% requirement
 Allow municipalities to
opt out of wind siting
rule
This is Economic Development?
 Wind, solar and biogas are eligible for federal tax
credits and grants. By propping existing fossil fuel
infrastructure at the expense of new clean energy
development, Wisconsin is effectively:
LEAVING MONEY ON THE TABLE!
(e.g., U.S. Army’s $7 billion RFP for clean energy, which
completely bypassed Wisconsin)
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
Pivot and Change Direction
Seek out approaches that:
 Empower customers to host RE
 Help customers purchase local RE (credits)
 Take advantage of the solar ITC in effect thru
2016
 Appeal to businesses
 Sidestep utility programs and infrastructure
 Affirm customer rights re: use of property
Clean Energy Choice
(a/k/a 3rd Party Power Purchase Agreements)
 Current ambiguities in public utility law interfere w/
customers’ ability to access clean energy produced
on their premises.
 What is needed is a policy that allows customers to
contract w/ third party system owners and acquire
the benefits of on-site renewable energy production
either through lease arrangements or power
purchase agreements (PPA’s)
Why Clean Energy Choice?
 No up-front capital required from host customers
 Allows nonprofit entities to partner w/ for-profit
companies that can use the 30% federal tax credit
 Could lower energy costs for customers over the
contract life
 Hugely successful in states that allow it (e.g.,
California and Colorado)
 It’s your premises, after all
3rd-Party Solar PV Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
www.dsireusa.org / April 2012
UT: limited to
certain sectors
AZ: limited to
certain sectors
VA: see notes
At least 21
states + PR
authorize or
allow 3rd-party
solar PV PPAs
Authorized by state or otherwise currently in use, at least in certain jurisdictions within in the state
Apparently disallowed by state or otherwise restricted by legal barriers
Status unclear or unknown
Puerto Rico
Note: This map is intended to serve as an unofficial guide; it does not constitute legal advice. Seek qualified legal expertise before making binding
financial decisions related to a 3rd-party PPA. See following slides for additional important information and authority references.
Top Solar Hosts – A Comparison
Host
Solar Capacity (in MW)
Walmart
Kohl’s
Costco
IKEA
Macy’s
All of Wisconsin
65
42
39
21
16
13
SOLAR GENERATING CAPACITY COMPARISON
WISCONSIN VS. TOP EIGHT STATES
State
MW DC
U.S. Market
Share
Allow 3rd
party PPA’s?
California
1,564
39%
Yes
New Jersey
566
14%
Yes
Arizona
398
10%
Yes
Colorado
197
5%
Yes
New Mexico
165
4%
Yes
Pennsylvania
133
3%
Yes
Nevada
124
3%
Yes
New York
124
3%
Yes
Wisconsin
121
<1%
No policy
Total
4,011
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Wisconsin data provided by RENEW
Ranked by Grid-Connected
Cumulative Installed
Capacity Through 2011
1 Capacity
as of August 2012
Tables appear in U.S. Solar
Market Trends, Interstate
Renewable Energy Council,
August 2012.
We Have Sponsors!
 Assembly - Gary Tauchen (R-Bonduel)
- Chris Taylor (D-Madison)
• Product thus far – a revised bill draft (v.5) reflecting
substantial input from CEC Working Group
• Both sponsors committed to a bipartisan approach
• Senate sponsor(s) yet to be identified
What the Bill Draft Does
 Does allow 3rd party owners of RE systems located
on a customer’s property to sell output directly to
legal occupant of that property w/out being
regulated as a “public utility”
 Does qualify these systems for Focus on Energy
incentives
Message Themes for Conservatives
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Property rights
Customer choice
Local economic development
Let the market decide
No new mandates or taxes
Supporters So Far
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City of Milwaukee
Johnson Controls
Helios USA
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Organic Valley Cooperative
Biogas companies (DVO, US Biogas)
WI Solar Energies Industry Association
WI Council of Churches (Stewardship Comm’n)
Local Institutions Taking the Lead
WI Companies/Municipalities/Schools Supporting
On-Site Renewable Energy Installations
Epic Systems
Organic Valley
Orion Energy Services
Dane County
UW-Oshkosh
Gundersen Health Systems
Johnson Controls
SC Johnson
Wigwam Mills
City of Beaver Dam
Kohl’s Dept. Stores
Fort Atkinson Schools
It’s Time to Retake the Initiative!
 Support businesses that invest in home-grown
renewable energy
 Become a renewable energy producer or
purchaser of locally produced renewable energy
credits (see RENEW booth for details)
 Join RENEW and stay engaged on our 3rd-party
contracting initiative
Michael Vickerman
Program and Policy Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
www.renewwisconsin.org
http://renewwisconsin-blog.org/