Alliant Energy customers will pay higher rates for electricity and gas next year but not as high as the company wanted, as regulators juggled competing interests of utility profits and consumers’ ability to pay.
At the same time, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission pumped the brakes on Alliant’s efforts to change the way it pays homeowners for electricity from solar panels, following the commission’s earlier decision to reject a similar proposal from Madison Gas and Electric.
Alliant’s proposal to change net metering, the system where households with rooftop solar arrays sell any extra energy they produce back to the company, garnered the most controversy and public comments among rate proposals from four of Wisconsin’s largest power companies.
Alliant hoped to adjust both the rate at which it pays for this excess energy and to change the way the payments are calculated, from a monthly to an hourly determination. This plan, along with Madison Gas and Electric’s proposal to eliminate net metering, faced opposition from hundreds of environmental advocates and concerned residents who anticipated it would stifle the growth of rooftop solar during an ongoing climate crisis.
Utilities have cited fairness between customers with rooftop solar and those without as a key reason for the change.
Last week, the Public Service Commission rejected MG&E’s proposal to end net metering and instead ordered a statewide analysis of the policy. When Alliant’s proposal to adjust net metering came before the three commissioners this week, they denied the utility’s request and noted that ideally, policy should be consistent and clear.
“I do believe that tariffs and rate structures should be designed in a way that customers can generally understand the program and its pricing,” Commissioner Summer Strand said.
“I’m not prepared to authorize it. I have too many questions,” Commissioner Rebecca Cameron Valcq said.
Renew Wisconsin, a nonprofit green energy advocacy group, endorsed Alliant’s plan after the company made revisions to better reflect the value of solar energy being produced at any time. However, Renew applauded the commission’s decision, emphasizing that net metering is essential for expanding solar.
“Preserving net metering is currently the best path forward for Wisconsin’s growing solar industry,” said Sam Dunaiski, executive director of Renew, adding that if future changes to net metering are proposed, the organization would like to be at the table.
The commission received over 500 public comments in Alliant’s case and many organizations cheered the regulators’ decision. The rates at which rooftop solar energy is sold back to the grid help homeowners recoup their investment in the panels. Many feared changes to that system would confuse customers and deter people from installing home solar arrays.
The Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition, a group of municipalities pursuing sustainability solutions, commended the Public Service Commission members “for their decision to convene a statewide process to explore net metering, rather than dealing with it on a piece-meal, utility by utility basis.”
The environmental advocacy group Sierra Club of Wisconsin and Vote Solar, a nonprofit that advocates for “equitable clean energy policy at the state level,” also praised the net metering decision, adding that although some parts of Alliant’s proposal were creative, it was ultimately too complex.
“Today the Public Service Commission stood up for customers, especially those who are seeking to install solar power,” said Cassie Steiner, senior campaign coordinator of the Sierra Club.
“Their decision to protect customer-friendly net metering was a win for clean energy and Wisconsinites.”
Electric and gas rate increases
Xcel Energy had also asked the regulators for permission to increase rates in 2024: 4.8% for electricity to raise $40.3 million in new revenue, and 5.3% for natural gas to bring in $9 million — citing capital investments and infrastructure as the reason for the need.
Xcel serves eight states, providing electricity to about 267,000 customers in more than 220 communities in northwestern Wisconsin and natural gas service to about 120,000 customers.
According to the Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit that tracks utility rates and advocates for customers, Xcel’s 2022 profits were $125 million.
The Public Service Commission didn’t give the utility what it asked for, instead voting to decrease Xcel’s electric rates by 0.13% but increase natural gas rates 3.2%, resulting in a total of $6.4 million for the company.
Xcel electric customers with…
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