Two proposals before the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) would make energy bills for MGE and Alliant customers higher and would make investing in rooftop solar harder and more expensive.
Support just energy bills
Madison Gas and Electric and Alliant Energy's proposals increase residential customers' bills. MGE has proposed a 9.6% electric and 4% gas increase for residential customers by 2025, and Alliant has proposed a 19.2% electric and 7.5% gas increase for residential customers on the same time frame.
This trend of rate increases to cover decisions by utilities to continue to operate expensive coal-fired power plants and to expand costly fossil gas infrastructure is unjust, and low income customers bear the brunt of the impact.
Tell the Public Service Commission to require that MGE and Alliant:
- Pursue wind, solar and energy efficiency as cost-saving opportunities for customers.
- Limit total energy bill burden to 6%, which is where the threshold for high energy burden begins.
- Adopt the following programs: Percentage of Income Plan, Arrearage Management Program, pilot geo-targeted energy efficiency program to lower bills.
Save Solar
Madison Gas and Electric and Alliant Energy’s proposals aim to eliminate or drastically overhaul net metering for new solar customers. We are asking Wisconsinites who support rooftop solar to contact the PSCW to tell them why our state needs net metering.
Net metering empowers Wisconsinites to take control of their energy consumption, reduce their carbon footprint, and contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable future. It is the single most important policy for rooftop solar owners. Net metering makes solar a more feasible investment for families and businesses, stabilizing the grid and energy prices, increasing clean energy, and expanding clean energy jobs.
Alliant’s proposal (Docket No. 6680-UR-124) would create uncertainty for Wisconsinites looking to go solar, proposing to replace net metering with a complicated set of charges and credits that are subject to change. This complicated pricing formula will make it difficult for solar customers to budget for rooftop solar investments, ultimately disincentivizing new solar adoption. Madison Gas and Electric’s proposal (Docket No. 3270-UR-125) before the Public Service Commission will unfairly reduce the compensation customers receive for the energy they produce with their investment in solar. In addition, the compensation rates will be subject to change every year, creating uncertainty over the system’s value in the long term.
Tell the PSC to protect net metering programs in Alliant and MGE territory!
Take Action Today!
- Submit a comment to the PSC
- RSVP to testify at a public hearing
- Join 350 Wisconsin, Sierra Club and Healthy Climate Wisconsin at a rally to save solar on September 23 at the Dane County Farmers Market on the State Capitol Square. https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=7013q000001rWwaAAE