More information
Don Wichert
Executive Director
608.255.4044, ext. 1
dwichert@renewwisconsin.org
Utilities Get C on Renewable Energy Report Card
No Wisconsin utility graded higher than a B/C on a report card issued by
a renewable energy advocacy group, and C was the overall average for
the state’s five major utilities.
We Energies, headquartered in Milwaukee, earned a C (2.4 out of
5) on the report card for its renewable energy efforts in 2011 and had
the lowest score of all utilities graded. The state’s other major
utilities received similar or slightly higher grades: Alliant (aka
Wisconsin Power and Light), C (2.6); Madison Gas & Electric, B/C
(3.0); Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, C (2.7); and Xcel Energy,
B/C (3.0).
“2011 was a year in which Wisconsin’s investor owned utilities
cut back on their previous good performance supporting renewable
energy,” said Don Wichert, RENEW Wisconsin’s executive director and the
report card director. “At this point in 2012, it appears that this poor
performance trend continues.”
“It’s surprising because recent opinion surveys indicate that the
vast majority of Wisconsin’s population, including utilities ratepayers
and stockholders, prefer renewable energy,” according to Wichert.
RENEW graded utilities on six criteria: amount of renewable
electricity sold; green energy purchasing programs; ease of connecting
to the utility system; prices paid for renewable electricity;
legislative activities; and other programs offered voluntarily to
customers.
Wisconsin utilities performed best in meeting the state’s
renewable electricity standard, the amount of renewable electricity sold
to its customers. All of the utilities already meet or expect to meet
the 10% standard by 2015, although some have the majority of the power
coming from out of Wisconsin.
We Energies scored at the bottom, because it had “agreed with
RENEW and other groups to spend $6 million/year over 10 years to
encourage the use of renewable energy in its service area. As part of
the program, over 100 nonprofit organizations installed renewable energy
systems. In 2011, however, WE simply announced the end of the program
after only five years,” said Wichert at a news conference in from of a
Milwaukee church that had a solar electric system installed as party of
We Energies now-discontinued program.
RENEW gave the state’s investor owned utilities the following grades:
C Alliant, Madison;
B/C Madison Gas & Electric, Madison;
C We Energies, Milwaukee;
C Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, Green Bay;
B/C Xcel Energy, Eau Claire.
This was the first time RENEW conducted a grading system, but
RENEW plans to continue the process in the future because people are
interested in how well their utilities support renewable energy.
“The annual survey can be used by Wisconsin utilities and others
to see which areas are
lacking and how they can improve their grades. Adoption of renewable
energy supports local
jobs, lower emissions of pollutants, and energy security. These are
attributes everybody wants. There is no reason that Wisconsin has to
lag the rest of the country in clean energy,” said Wichert.
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RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that
leads and represents businesses, organizations, and individuals who
seek more clean renewable energy in Wisconsin. More information on
RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.
