For the second time in as many years, a group of Republican state legislators will seek to reinstate the rules for how solar power is owned and distributed in Wisconsin.
State Sen. Doi Strobel R. Saukville announced plans Tuesday to introduce legislation that would make Wisconsin one of 20 states that allow public ownership of solar panels. He has joined solar companies, clean energy advocates, property owners, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and other lawmakers.
Community solar, in states where it is permitted, is a fast-growing area of solar power, as developers sell subscriptions for power generated from solar panels to neighboring businesses, homeowners, local governments, churches, and organizations. . This allows these customers to pool resources to harness solar power (lower cost and plant ownership) without the large upfront costs of self-financed solar panels.
Get daily updates from the Packers all season long.
Stroebel called it a win for customer choice at a time when utility prices are rising and also for the open market: It will give solar developers a new area of business from which they are currently locked out.
"For me, it's all about the competition," Strobel said. "This is about providing electricity without subsidies, without price subsidies, and it has to be self-sufficient. The investors that build these utilities will sell the subscriptions, and if they can provide electricity more profitably than our state monopolistic energy provider, they will ". sell energy”.
Enabling community solar projects in Wisconsin will fill a gap in access to affordable solar power, said Sam Donaskey, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin. Today, solar power is largely the domain of individuals, businesses, and organizations that can afford the plants and facilities that develop gigantic solar farms.
Community solar panels, typically under 5 megawatts and occupying no more than 20 to 30 acres, are much smaller than the large solar farms developed by utility companies that are increasingly facing local opposition. Such a move, in addition to the direct benefits of community solar development to community members, could reduce some opposition, Dunaskey said.
"We don't have a lot of things like that in what we consider to be a midsize solar farm," he said. "And I hope it's at least more pleasing to the public than thousands of acres."
Other: Solar farms or corn fields cultivated for ethanol production. What is the best way to use agricultural land?
What is a Solar Company?
Community solar systems are often built by solar developers with large primary customers, such as businesses, schools, or non-profit organizations. Homeowners and other small customers in the surrounding area buy the remaining capacity.
There are no customers directly connected to the electric power production plant. Instead, electricity is tied to the local power company, and community solar customers receive a credit on their electric bill for their share of the energy produced, offsetting electricity costs.
Community solar farms typically produce several megawatts of electricity, or enough electricity to power several hundred homes. Construction costs are shared between the client, which significantly reduces the investment of each participant compared to purchasing custom solar panels for your property.
"A solar community often reflects the community you want to serve," says JD Smith, business development manager for Plymouth-based Arc Solar. "So it's more modular -- it can be big, it can be small, you can put it in more complex places. It's very flexible, which is really valuable to us because it means we don't have to be a monolithic company that's really competitive, if it goes to build from Wisconsin".
The bill requires community solar projects to be approved by two-thirds of city councils, a provision meant to calm some divisions of solar projects.
“He makes sure he gets a really strong consensus from the community before he does these things,” says Strobel. "And now, on a useful scale, these things are happening, everywhere, without the involvement of local people."
More: How a nonprofit helped 35 Habitat for Humanity Milwaukee homes go solar
© Wisconsin Public Utilities The Two Creeks Solar Farm in Manitowoc County is Wisconsin's first large-scale solar project when it comes online in 2021. It leads to more people directly benefiting from clean, affordable energy.Why is there opposition to solar panels?
Despite support from clean energy advocates, state solar developers and some Republican lawmakers, the bill is likely to face stiff opposition. An earlier version of the bill, introduced by Stroebel and others in 2021, was opposed by the public and state investors, and it died in committee after the legislative session ended.
Companies and organizations marching against WEC Energy Group include Alliant Energy and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.
The company says that, under state law, third-party ownership of any facility that produces and distributes power to a person other than the owner makes it beneficial and subject to all regulations under which the utility operates. from Wisconsin. Changing that law to allow community solar projects, the utility said, would violate the state's century-old regulatory regime by allowing competitors to enter the market and choose customers by operating under a different set of rules.
“Third-party systems that supply power to multiple customers do not produce themselves, but instead sell electric service within the utility's service concession area, without any of the guarantees that a utility must provide. in the organizational structure”, Bill Squeeze. wrote the executive director of the Wisconsin Public Service Association. , in a note to lawmakers who oppose the 2021 bill.
Unions that often work on large utility construction projects also opposed the bill because it did not require community solar projects to be built with unions. Those objections limited Democratic support for the bill.
This time it will be different?
Supporters of the bill hope that the revision of the 2021 bill and changes to the renewable energy landscape brought about by the federal Inflation Reduction Act will alleviate some of those concerns.
As for utilities, the new law will require developers to cover all development and connection costs and will direct the state public utility commission to set building rules for community solar systems and set fair prices for developers and developers. . Companies where they supply electricity.
Dunaskey said that the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act could allay some of the fears of organized labor. The 2022 law ties most of the tax credits available for renewable energy development to the use of union labor or payment of the prevailing state wage. It's a move that unions have welcomed since the bill was introduced.
"Energy companies have a lot of influence in this building, and as you know, that's a hurdle that needs to be overcome," Strobel said.
"I mean, it's change. Change is always hard. But there seems to be a broad coalition of supporters that we have in this session. And I think now a lot of people have embraced us to see the benefits."
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Conservatives and clean energy advocates find common ground on community-owned solar bill
