1997 Wisconsin Act 204

204,18 Section 18 . 32.09 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:

32.09 (2m) In determining just compensation for property sought to be condemned in connection with the construction of facilities, as defined under s. 196.491 (1) (e), any increase in the market value of such property occurring after the date of evaluation but before the date upon which the lis pendens is filed under s. 32.06 (7) shall be considered and allowed to the extent it is caused by factors other than the planned facility.

204,19 Section 19 . 66.073 (10) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 66.073 (10).

204,20 Section 20 . 66.073 (10) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

204,21 Section 21 . 86.16 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

86.16 (1) Any person, firm or corporation, including any foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state may, subject to ss. 30.44 (3m), 30.45, and 196.491 (3) (d) 3m. and 196.492, with the written consent of the department with respect to state trunk highways, and with the written consent of local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction, including connecting highways, construct and operate telegraph, telephone or electric lines, or pipes or pipelines for the purpose of transmitting messages, water, heat, light or power along, across or within the limits of the highway.

204,22 Section 22 . 182.017 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

182.017 (1) Right-of-way for. Any domestic corporation organized to furnish telegraph or telecommunications service or transmit heat, power or electric current to the public or for public purposes, and any an independent system operator, as defined in s. 196.485 (1) (d), an independent transmission owner, as defined in s. 196.485 (1) (dm), or a cooperative association organized under ch. 185 to furnish telegraph or telecommunications service or transmit heat, power or electric current to its members, may, subject to ss. 30.44 (3m), 30.45, 86.16, and 196.491 (3) (d) 3m. and 196.492 and to reasonable regulations made by any city, village or town through which its transmission lines or systems may pass, construct and maintain such lines or systems with all necessary appurtenances in, across or beneath any public highway or bridge or any stream or body of water, or upon any lands of any owner consenting thereto, and for such purpose may acquire lands or the necessary easements; and may connect and operate its lines or system with other lines or systems devoted to like business, within or without this state, and charge reasonable rates for the transmission and delivery of messages or the furnishing of heat, power or electric light.

204,23 Section 23 . 196.03 (5m) of the statutes is created to read:

196.03 (5m) The commission shall promulgate rules establishing requirements and procedures for the commission, in setting rates for retail electric service, to reflect the assignment of costs and the treatment of revenues from sales to customers outside this state that the public utility does not have a duty to serve.

204,24 Section 24 . 196.24 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

196.24 (3) The commission may conduct any number of investigations contemporaneously through different agents, and may delegate to any agent the authority to take testimony bearing upon any investigation or at any hearing. The decision of the commission shall comply with s. 227.46 and shall be based upon its records and upon the evidence before it, except that, notwithstanding s. 227.46 (4), a decision maker may hear a case or read or review the record of a case if the record includes a synopsis or summary of the testimony and other evidence presented at the hearing that is prepared by the commission staff. Parties shall have an opportunity to demonstrate to a decision maker that a synopsis or summary prepared under this subsection is not sufficiently complete or accurate to fairly reflect the relevant and material testimony or other evidence presented at a hearing.

204,25 Section 25 . 196.377 (title) of the statutes is created to read:

196.377 (title) Renewable energy sources.

204,26 Section 26 . 196.377 of the statutes is renumbered 196.377 (1).

204,27 Section 27 . 196.377 (2) of the statutes is created to read:

196.377 (2) Eastern Wisconsin utilities. (a) In this subsection:

1. “Eastern Wisconsin utility" means a public utility, other than a municipal utility that, on the effective date of this subdivision .... [revisor inserts date], provided retail electric service to customers in the geographic area of the state that was served by the reliability council on that date.

2. “Municipality" means a city, town or village.

3. “Municipal utility" means a public utility that is a municipality or that is wholly owned or operated by a municipality.

4. “Reliability council" means the Mid-America Interconnected Network, Inc., reliability council of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

(b) Except as provided in par. (d), no later than December 31, 2000, each eastern Wisconsin utility shall construct or procure, on a competitive basis, the construction of an aggregate total of 50 megawatts of new electric capacity in this state that is, to the satisfaction of the commission, generated from renewable energy sources. Each eastern Wisconsin utility shall construct or procure the construction of a share of the aggregate total required under this paragraph that corresponds to the utility's share, as determined by the commission, of the aggregate demand for electricity that is supplied by the utilities in this state.

(c) An eastern Wisconsin utility may procure the construction required under par. (a) by issuing requests for proposals no later than September 30, 1998.

(d) The commission may allow an eastern Wisconsin utility to comply with the requirements under par. (b) by a date that is later than December 31, 2000, if the commission determines that the later date is necessary due to circumstances beyond the utility's control.

(e) Any new electric capacity that is generated from a wind power project for which an eastern Wisconsin utility has received a proposal before the effective date of this paragraph .... [revisor inserts date], may be counted in determining whether the utility has satisfied the requirements under par. (b).

(f) The commission shall allow an eastern Wisconsin utility to recover in its retail electric rates any costs that are prudently incurred by the utility in complying with the requirements under par. (b).

204,28 Section 28 . 196.39 of the statutes is renumbered 196.39 (1) and amended to read:

196.39 (1) The commission at any time, on its own motion or upon motion of an interested party, and upon notice to the public utility and after opportunity to be heard, may rescind, alter or amend any order fixing rates, tolls, charges or schedules, or any other order made by the commission, and may reopen any case following the issuance of an order in the case, for any reason.

(3) Any order rescinding, altering, amending or reopening a prior order shall have the same effect as an original order.

(4) Within 30 days after service of an order, the commission may correct an error or omission in the order related to transcription, typing or calculation without hearing if the correction does not alter the intended effect of the order.

204,29 Section 29 . 196.39 (2) of the statutes is created to read:

196.39 (2) An interested party may request the reopening of a case under s. 227.49.

204,30 Section 30 . 196.485 of the statutes is created to read:

196.485 Independent system operator. (1) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Affiliated interest of a person" means any of the following:

1. Any person owning or holding directly or indirectly 5% or more of the voting securities of the person.

2. Any person in any chain of successive ownership of 5% or more of voting securities of the person.

3. Any corporation 5% or more of whose voting securities is owned by any person owning 5% or more of the voting securities of the person or by any person in any chain of successive ownership of 5% or more of the voting securities of the person.

4. Any person who is an officer or director of the person or of any corporation in any chain of successive ownership of 5% or more of the voting securities of the person.

5. Any corporation operating a servicing organization for furnishing supervisory, construction, engineering, accounting, legal or similar services to the person, which corporation has one or more officers or one or more directors in common with the person, and any other corporation which has directors in common with the person if the number of directors of the corporation is more than one-third of the total number of the person's directors.

6. Any subsidiary of the person.

(b) “Cooperative" means a cooperative association organized under ch. 185.

(c) “Federal agency" means, with respect to a transmission utility that is a cooperative, the rural utilities service and, with respect to a transmission utility that is a public utility, the federal energy regulatory commission.

(d) “Independent system operator" means an independent system operator that requires the approval of a federal agency to operate transmission facilities in this state or a region.

(dm) “Independent transmission owner" means a person that satisfies each of the following:

1. The person does not own electric generation facilities or does not sell electric generation capacity or energy in a market within the geographic area that, on December 31, 1997, was served by the Mid-America Interconnected Network, Inc., Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, East Central Area Reliability Coordination Agreement or Southwest Power Pool reliability council of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

3. The person is not an affiliated interest of a person specified in subd. 1.

(e) “Region" means an interstate geographic area that includes any portion of this state.

(f) “Rural utilities service" means the agency in the federal department of agriculture that is the successor to the rural electrification administration.

(fm) “Subsidiary" means any person, 5% or more of the securities of which are directly or indirectly owned by another person.

(g) “Transmission area" means the area of the state that, on January 1, 1997, was served by the Mid-America Interconnected Network, Inc., reliability council of the North American Electric Reliability Council.

(h) “Transmission facility" means any pipe, pipeline, duct, wire, line, conduit, pole, tower, equipment or other structure used for the transmission of electric power as determined by the public service commission on the basis of factors for identifying a transmission facility that are specified in the orders of the federal energy regulatory commission under 16 USC 824d and 824e.

(i) “Transmission utility" means a cooperative or public utility that owns a transmission facility in this state and that provides transmission service in this state.

(2) Commission powers and duties. (a) By June 30, 2000, if a transmission utility has not transferred control over its transmission facilities to an independent system operator that is approved by the applicable federal agency or divested, with approval of the applicable federal agency and, for a public utility, the commission, its interest in its transmission facilities to an independent transmission owner, the commission shall, subject to par. (am), order the transmission utility to apply to the applicable federal agency to do one of the following:

1. Transfer control of the transmission utility's transmission facilities to an independent system operator that has received the approval of the federal agency to operate in a region.

2. If the federal agency has not approved an independent system operator specified in subd. 1., transfer control over the transmission utility's transmission facilities to an independent system operator that is intended to operate in a region.

3. If the transmission utility does not, or is not able to, to the satisfaction of the commission, transfer its transmission facilities to an independent system operator specified in subd. 2., divest the transmission utility's interest in its transmission facilities to an independent transmission owner.

(am) The commission may waive the requirement to issue an order against a transmission utility under par. (a) if each of the following is satisfied:

1. The transmission utility has filed an application with the applicable federal agency for approval to transfer control of its transmission facilities to an independent system operator or to divest its interest in its transmission facilities to an independent transmission owner.

2. The commission finds that the waiver is reasonably expected to result in a more expeditious transfer of control to an independent system operator or divestment of interest to an independent transmission owner than would result under an order issued under par. (a). In making a finding under this subdivision, the commission shall consider the need for a reasonably prompt transition period for the transfer of control or divestment of interest that ensures, to the maximum extent practicable, the continued reliability of the electric transmission system in this state.

(b) By June 30, 2000, the commission shall, except as provided in par. (bm), order each transmission utility in this state that is a public utility to identify and separately account for the cost of retail transmission service and to take all retail transmission service from an independent system operator or independent transmission owner.

(bm) The commission may issue an order under par. (b) after June 30, 2000, if the commission determines that a later date is necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of a transmission utility, including regulatory delays at the commission or applicable federal agency.

(c) The commission has jurisdiction to do all things necessary and convenient to enforce the requirements of this section.

(3) Independent system operator and independent transmission owner duties. (a) If an independent system operator that has control over transmission facilities in this state determines that there is a need for additional transmission facilities in this state, the independent system operator shall order any transmission utility that has transferred control over transmission facilities to the independent system operator to, subject to the requirements of ss. 196.49 and 196.491 (3), expand the portion of the electric transmission system that is in this state and under the control of the independent system operator or construct additional transmission facilities in that portion of the transmission system. An independent system operator may issue an order under this paragraph only if a transmission utility that is subject to the order is reasonably compensated for the costs incurred in complying with the order.

(bm) If each of the transmission utilities in the transmission area that are public utilities have not transferred control over their transmission facilities to the same independent system operator, the independent system operator that controls transmission facilities in the transmission area shall ensure that, by itself or pursuant to a long-term agreement with another independent system operator, the transmission facilities in the transmission area are planned, constructed, operated, maintained and controlled as a single transmission system.

(b) If an independent transmission owner determines that there is a need for additional transmission facilities in a portion of the electric transmission system of this state that consists of transmission facilities the interest in which has been divested to the independent transmission owner by a transmission utility, the independent transmission owner shall, subject to the requirements of ss. 196.49 and 196.491 (3), expand that portion of the electric transmission system or construct additional transmission facilities in that portion.

(c) An independent transmission owner or an independent system operator shall operate transmission facilities over which it has control in a manner that does each of the following:

1. To the maximum extent practicable, eliminates advantages in electric generation, wholesale and retail markets that are otherwise related to ownership, control or operation of transmission facilities over which it has control.

2. Satisfies the reasonable needs of transmission users in this state for reliable, low-cost and competitively priced electric service.

(4) Transmission utilities. (a) A transmission utility may not transfer control over, or divest its interest in, its transmission facilities to an independent system operator or independent transmission owner unless, to the satisfaction of the commission, each of the following requirements is satisfied:

1. The independent system operator or independent transmission owner is the sole provider of all transmission service to all users of its transmission system in this state, including the provision of retail transmission service to users that are public utilities.

2. The independent system operator or independent transmission owner has authority over transmission facilities that is sufficient for the independent system operator or independent transmission owner to ensure the reliability of its transmission system.

3. The independent system operator or independent transmission owner has sufficient authority to carry out the duties specified in sub. (3).

(b) A transmission utility that transfers control over its transmission facilities to an independent system operator shall, subject to the approval of the applicable federal agency, provide reasonable and cost-effective construction, operation and maintenance services to the independent system operator that are required for operation of the transmission facilities.

204,31 Section 31 . 196.491 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

196.491 (title) Advance planning of electric Strategic energy assessment; electric generating facilities and transmission lines.

204,32 Section 32 . 196.491 (1) (a) of the statutes is repealed.

204,33 Section 33 . 196.491 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

196.491 (1) (am) “Affiliated interest" has the meaning given in s. 196.52 (1).

204,34 Section 34 . 196.491 (1) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:

196.491 (1) (bm) “Cooperative association" means a cooperative association organized under ch. 185 for the purpose of generating, distributing or furnishing electric energy at retail or wholesale to its members only.

204,35 Section 35 . 196.491 (1) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:

196.491 (1) (d) “Electric utility" means any public utility, as defined in s. 196.01, which is involved in the generation, distribution and sale of electric energy, and any corporation, company, individual or association, and any cooperative association organized under ch. 185 for the purpose of generating, distributing or furnishing electric energy at retail or wholesale to its members only, which owns or operates, or plans within the next 10 3 years to construct, own or operate, bulk electric generating facilities, large electric generating facilities or high-voltage transmission lines in the state.

204,36 Section 36 . 196.491 (1) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

196.491 (1) (e) “Facility" means a bulk electric generating facility, a large electric generating facility or a high-voltage transmission line.

204,37 Section 37 . 196.491 (1) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

196.491 (1) (g) “Large electric generating facility" means electric generating equipment and associated facilities designed for nominal operation at a capacity of between 12,000 and 300,000 kilowatts 100 megawatts or more.

204,38 Section 38 . 196.491 (1) (w) of the statutes is created to read:

196.491 (1) (w) “Wholesale merchant plant" means electric generating equipment and associated facilities located in this state that do not provide service to any retail customer and that are owned and operated by any of the following: