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4/9/2010
Rep. Montgomery: Learning from Minnesota’s Green Energy Efforts
Recently, I wrote about the troubles Iowa elected leaders are having with the consequences of their decision to require 25% of the state’s energy to be derived from renewable resources by 2025. If you recall, Iowa Governor Chet Culver and state legislators are trying to convince the Iowa Utilities Board, Iowa’s counterpart to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, to pare back a request from one of that state’s largest utilities for 13.8% annual electric rate increase to offset the company’s costs of building a new wind farm to comply with the 25-by-2025 mandate. Based on recent developments in the State of Minnesota, it appears that their state’s elected leaders are now having second thoughts about the benefits of a 25% by 2025 renewable energy mandate.
In January, Superior Water, Light and Power Company sent a letter to its customers telling them that their electric bill will soon rise by 12%. According to the company, this increase is the result of regulatory mandates on utilities chief among them being the mandate for renewable energy generation. In response to this letter, the Minnesota Attorney General led the charge to call for new laws to make utility rate recovery more difficult.
Late last month, Minnesota Power filed a request to raise its electric rates by 19 percent to pay for environmental upgrades and the wind turbine infrastructure to comply with the Minnesota 25-by-2025 law. It so happens that a company that many Northeast Wisconsin residents are familiar with, NewPage Corporation operates a paper mill in Minnesota Power’s territory. According to the company, if this rate increase is approved, the company’s electric bills will increase by about $2 million annually. As it turns out, companies are not the only one unhappy with the rate increase. The Minnesota Attorney General demanded that Minnesota Power’s rate request be scaled back significantly.
As Yogi Berra said “it’s déjà vu all over again.” The political leaders in Minnesota, just like Iowa’s political leaders, were quick to extol the virtues of renewable energy and the green economy, but when the bills came due to pay for the policies they put into law, they sing a different tune. As I have said many times before, the dirty little secret of utility costs is that utility customers pick up the tab.
While we continue to debate Governor Doyle’s Global Warming legislation, I hope my colleagues will keep in mind the lessons learned from Iowa and Minnesota. The undeniable fact is that a government mandate requiring 25% of Wisconsin’s energy to be derived from renewable energy by 2025 will cost Wisconsin utilities approximately $1 billion annually and a significant portion of these investments will be paid for by utility customers. If the Governor’s proposal is enacted into law, we will follow the same path that is now being forged in Iowa and Minnesota – double-digit increases in monthly electric bill on a regular basis.
Phil Montgomery is a Republican and represents the residents of the 4th Assembly District (Green Bay).
COMMENTS
I tried to find articles on the rate increases you refered to, I did not find anything that said the requested rate increases were due to renewable mandates except from a propoganda peice by WEIG. Could you provide links to back up what you said from non-biased sources?
Dean Weichmann (Tue Apr 13 02:37:46 2010)
From a vidio at Minnesota Power, of the $81 million requested $3 million is for renewable energy.
http://www.straightenergyanswers.com/index.php
Dean Weichmann (Tue Apr 13 02:48:07 2010)
Interesting Dean. Good work.
Jo (Tue Apr 13 06:10:15 2010)
Thank you Jo.
I was hoping that Rep Montgomery might respond. I would hope that people who represent us would be diligent in learning the facts and not be misled by special interests.
By the way, I mistyped WEIG. The link to the propoganda;
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/mar10/mar29/0329wiegminnesota.pdf
I suspect this is where Rep Montgomery got his misimformation.
Dean Weichmann (Wed Apr 14 11:21:20 2010)
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