196.377 Renewable energy sources.

(1) Promotion of renewable energy systems. The commission shall encourage public utilities to develop and demonstrate electric generating technologies that utilize renewable sources of energy, including new, innovative or experimental technologies. The commission may ensure that a public utility fully recovers the cost of developing, constructing and operating such demonstrations through rates charged to customers of the utility.

(2) Eastern Wisconsin utilities.

(a) In this subsection:

1. “Eastern Wisconsin utility" means a public utility, other than a municipal utility that, on May 12, 1998, provided retail electric service to customers in the geographic area of the state that was served by the reliability council on that date.

2. “Municipality" means a city, town or village.

3. “Municipal utility" means a public utility that is a municipality or that is wholly owned or operated by a municipality.

4. “Reliability council" means the Mid-America Interconnected Network, Inc., reliability council of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

(b) Except as provided in par. (d), no later than December 31, 2000, each eastern Wisconsin utility shall construct or procure, on a competitive basis, the construction of an aggregate total of 50 megawatts of new electric capacity in this state that is, to the satisfaction of the commission, generated from renewable energy sources. Each eastern Wisconsin utility shall construct or procure the construction of a share of the aggregate total required under this paragraph that corresponds to the utility's share, as determined by the commission, of the aggregate demand for electricity that is supplied by the utilities in this state.

(c) An eastern Wisconsin utility may procure the construction required under par. (a) by issuing requests for proposals no later than September 30, 1998.

(d) The commission may allow an eastern Wisconsin utility to comply with the requirements under par. (b) by a date that is later than December 31, 2000, if the commission determines that the later date is necessary due to circumstances beyond the utility's control.

(e) Any new electric capacity that is generated from a wind power project for which an eastern Wisconsin utility has received a proposal before May 12, 1998, may be counted in determining whether the utility has satisfied the requirements under par. (b).

(f) The commission shall allow an eastern Wisconsin utility to recover in its retail electric rates any costs that are prudently incurred by the utility in complying with the requirements under par. (b).

History: 1993 a. 418; 1997 a. 204.