Jan
26
DEBT FORGIVENESS PROGRAM FOR ALLIANT CUSTOMERS APPROVED
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has voted to approve an Arrears Management Program (AMP) proposed by Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin subsidiary, Wisconsin Power and Light. The approval of WPL’s AMP marks the most recent offering from Wisconsin’s large, investor-owned utilities to support low-income customers.
According to WPL, the AMP offers financial assistance to customers who are likely to be hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible, low-income residential customers would be automatically enrolled to receive a 25 percent reduction in their arrears balance and additional reductions each month they keep current with their utility bills.
“We’ve seen the effects of COVID-19 disproportionally impact people of color as well as low income households,” said Rebecca Cameron Valcq, chairperson of the PSC. “Programs like these are not only the right thing to do, but our analysis shows that the benefits to the utility and all customers outweigh the costs.”
RULES UPDATED ON CUSTOMER-OWNED POWER SOURCES
The Public Service Commission has approved parameters for revising administrative codes governing “distributed generation facilities” such as rooftop solar panels, hydroelectric dams and biogas generators. Renewable energy advocates had complained that the seventeen-year-old rules were out of date.
WOOD COUNTY SOLAR FARM APPROVED
Wisconsin regulators have authorized construction of a 150-megawatt solar farm in Wood County that Alliant Energy is seeking to buy as part of a $900 million investment in clean energy. The Public Service Commission voted unanimously in early January to let Savion Energy build the plant on about 1,200 acres of mostly woodlands in the town of Saratoga, south of Wisconsin Rapids. The commission is separately considering Alliant’s application to purchase the project for about $194 million.
According to an environmental assessment, the land is owned by Golden Sands and Full Circle Farmland and is primarily used as a red pine plantation for timber production. The project received widespread public support but was opposed by a couple whose property is abutted on three sides by the project area. Under Wisconsin law, the project owner will pay $600,000 a year to the county and town.
Alliant has proposed to build or buy six solar farms that together would supply enough electricity to power about 175,000 homes and is expected to file applications this year for another 325 megawatts of solar generation.
REFINANCING OF WE DEBT ALLOWED
The Public Service Commission has voted unanimously to allow We Energies to issue bonds for $100 million of its investment in pollution controls at the Pleasant Prairie plant, which shut down in 2018. The financing arrangement, known as securitization, is expected to save ratepayers about $40 million while allowing the utility to recover its investment. Similar to refinancing a mortgage, securitization allows a utility to sell low-interest bonds and use the proceeds to pay back investors for the cost of an asset, such as a power plant, that is no longer in service. Ratepayers then pay back the bond holders at a much lower interest rate — in this case around 2.5% versus more than 9.5% without securitization.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has voted to approve an Arrears Management Program (AMP) proposed by Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin subsidiary, Wisconsin Power and Light. The approval of WPL’s AMP marks the most recent offering from Wisconsin’s large, investor-owned utilities to support low-income customers.
According to WPL, the AMP offers financial assistance to customers who are likely to be hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible, low-income residential customers would be automatically enrolled to receive a 25 percent reduction in their arrears balance and additional reductions each month they keep current with their utility bills.
“We’ve seen the effects of COVID-19 disproportionally impact people of color as well as low income households,” said Rebecca Cameron Valcq, chairperson of the PSC. “Programs like these are not only the right thing to do, but our analysis shows that the benefits to the utility and all customers outweigh the costs.”
RULES UPDATED ON CUSTOMER-OWNED POWER SOURCES
The Public Service Commission has approved parameters for revising administrative codes governing “distributed generation facilities” such as rooftop solar panels, hydroelectric dams and biogas generators. Renewable energy advocates had complained that the seventeen-year-old rules were out of date.
WOOD COUNTY SOLAR FARM APPROVED
Wisconsin regulators have authorized construction of a 150-megawatt solar farm in Wood County that Alliant Energy is seeking to buy as part of a $900 million investment in clean energy. The Public Service Commission voted unanimously in early January to let Savion Energy build the plant on about 1,200 acres of mostly woodlands in the town of Saratoga, south of Wisconsin Rapids. The commission is separately considering Alliant’s application to purchase the project for about $194 million.
According to an environmental assessment, the land is owned by Golden Sands and Full Circle Farmland and is primarily used as a red pine plantation for timber production. The project received widespread public support but was opposed by a couple whose property is abutted on three sides by the project area. Under Wisconsin law, the project owner will pay $600,000 a year to the county and town.
Alliant has proposed to build or buy six solar farms that together would supply enough electricity to power about 175,000 homes and is expected to file applications this year for another 325 megawatts of solar generation.
REFINANCING OF WE DEBT ALLOWED
The Public Service Commission has voted unanimously to allow We Energies to issue bonds for $100 million of its investment in pollution controls at the Pleasant Prairie plant, which shut down in 2018. The financing arrangement, known as securitization, is expected to save ratepayers about $40 million while allowing the utility to recover its investment. Similar to refinancing a mortgage, securitization allows a utility to sell low-interest bonds and use the proceeds to pay back investors for the cost of an asset, such as a power plant, that is no longer in service. Ratepayers then pay back the bond holders at a much lower interest rate — in this case around 2.5% versus more than 9.5% without securitization.
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