WISCONSIN GOVERNER'S PROPOSED 2023 BUDGET CONTAINS MANY UTILITY AND ENERGY RELATED ITEMS

• Provides $10 million for “clean energy” job training and reemployment programs.
• Requires the Public Service Commission to establish the social cost of carbon and requires the commission to consider the social cost of carbon when evaluating utility construction applications.
• Allows utilities to securitize the entire remaining unpaid balance of a retiring power plant. Currently, only the unpaid balance of pollution control equipment may be securitized.
• Establishes the Office of Environmental Justice to, in part, perform a climate risk assessment and create a resilience plan for state agencies.
• Requires municipal comprehensive plans, local hazard mitigation plans and community health assessments to address the impact of climate change.
• Provides $5 million GPR over the biennium to support a clean energy small business incubator.
• Establishes the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy and creates a one-time $4 million GPR clean energy grant program.
• Provides $500,000 SEG over the biennium to create a biodigester planning grant program.
• Creates a sales and use tax exemption for property used primarily to store or facilitate the storage of energy produced by a solar, wind, or biogas renewable energy system for an anticipated reduction in tax revenue of $4.2 million over the biennium.
• Establishes a workgroup to develop a “stretch energy code” for Wisconsin.

It is likely many of these items will be removed or modified by the Legislature when it receives the Budget Bill.