Wisconsin Ag Connection - PSC: Providers in Compliance with Renewable Energy Goals

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PSC: Providers in Compliance with Renewable Energy Goals
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/06/2012

All 118 Wisconsin electric providers are in compliance with their Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements for 2011. That's according to a Public Service Commission of Wisconsin order issued last week, which noted that the majority of state utilities have already achieved the increased percentage of renewable energy that will be required by 2015.

The agency says Wisconsin utilities are required to obtain 10 percent of electric energy sales from renewable resources by the year 2015, and benchmarks must be met along the way. The current RPS law was part of 2005 Wisconsin Act 141, a comprehensive piece of energy legislation passed in 2006 that also overhauled funding and oversight of the statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy program known as Focus on Energy.

Since those new standards have been put in place, Wisconsin electric provider renewable sales have increased by over 132-percent from 2006 through 2011. Last year, 8.88 percent of electricity sold by the state's utilities and cooperatives was generated from renewable resources eligible for the RPS, up from 7.37 percent in 2010.

The PSC noted that in addition to renewable energy eligible for RPS compliance, many utilities provide renewable energy pursuant to voluntary green pricing programs. An additional 0.66-percent of the electricity sold at retail in Wisconsin in 2011 was provided through these programs. Together, these voluntary programs and the renewable energy eligible for RPS compliance provided a total of 9.54 percent of the state's electricity from renewable resources in 2011.

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