The bill also requires certain electric utilities to spend a portion of the access
fees on energy conservation programs, rather than paying the entire amount to the
board. Under current law, certain electric utilities are required to spend at least 0.5%
of their annual operating revenues on energy conservation programs. The bill
requires instead that, through fiscal year 2001-02, such electric utilities must spend
a specified portion of the access fees on energy conservation programs. After fiscal
year 2001-02, the electric utilities are not required to spend a portion of the access
fees on energy conservation programs, but must pay the entire amount to the board.
The bill imposes other requirements on the board's programs and the
commitment to community programs, including the following:
1. The bill requires public utilities to allow electric customers to make
contributions to the board's programs or the commitment to community programs.
2. For purposes of determining whether a municipal utility or cooperative has
spent a required amount on a commitment to community program, the bill allows a
municipal utility or cooperative to receive credit for any spending by its wholesale
electric supplier on the supplier's own commitment to community programs.
3. The bill imposes certain reporting requirements on municipal utilities and
cooperatives that spend access fees on commitment to community programs.
Renewable energy resources
Under this bill, a certain percentage of the electricity generated by a public
utility or retail cooperative association must be generated from renewable energy
resources. The percentage is calculated on the basis of a public utility's or retail
cooperative association's "system peak load share", which is defined as the amount
of electricity that the public utility or retail cooperative association delivered to its
customers or members at that time during the summer of 1996 that the maximum
amount of electricity was delivered to all customers and members of all public
utilities and retail cooperative associations. The following percentages of a public
utility's or retail cooperative association's system peak load share must be generated

from renewable resources: 1% by December 31, 2000; 1.5% by December 31, 2002; 2%
by December 31, 2004; 2.5% by December 31, 2006; 3% by December 31, 2008; and
4% by December 31, 2010.
The bill allows a municipal public utility or retail cooperative association to
receive a credit for the amount of electricity generated from renewable resources by
its wholesale supplier. In addition, the bill allows public utilities and retail
cooperative associations to purchase credits from other public utilities and retail
cooperative associations that generate electricity from renewable resources in excess
of the required percentages of system peak load share. A public utility or retail
cooperative association that purchases such a credit may use the credit for purposes
of determining whether it satisfies a required percentage. The PSC must promulgate
rules establishing requirements and procedures for sales of such credits.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB517, s. 1 1Section 1. 15.07 (1) (a) 7. of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,4,42 15.07 (1) (a) 7. Members of the public benefits and energy assistance board
3appointed under s. 15.792 (1) (b) or (c) shall be appointed as provided in s. 15.792 (1)
4(b) or (c) without senate confirmation.
SB517, s. 2 5Section 2. 15.07 (1) (d) of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,4,86 15.07 (1) (d) Except as provided in s. 15.792 (1) (b) 5. or 8. or (c), no member
7appointed to the public benefits and energy assistance board may be an employe of
8a utility, as defined in 196.374 (1).
SB517, s. 3 9Section 3. 15.792 of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,4,11 1015.792 Same; attached board. Public benefits and energy assistance
11board.
(1) (a) In this subsection:
SB517,4,1212 1. "Electric utility" has the meaning given in s. 196.96 (1) (f).
SB517,4,1313 2. "Low-income household" has the meaning given in s. 196.96 (1) (L).
SB517,4,1414 3. "Municipal utility" has the meaning given in s. 196.96 (1) (p).
SB517,5,1
14. "Renewable resource" has the meaning given in s. 196.378 (1) (g).
SB517,5,22 5. "Retail cooperative" has the meaning given in s. 196.96 (1) (r).
SB517,5,33 6. "Small business" has the meaning given in s. 16.75 (4) (c).
SB517,5,54 7. "Small business representative" means a director, manager, member, officer,
5owner or partner of a small business.
SB517,5,86 (b) There is created a public benefits and energy assistance board that is
7attached to the public service commission under s. 15.03. The board shall consist of
8the following members appointed for 3-year terms:
SB517,5,109 1. One member appointed by the governor who is a member of a low-income
10household or who represents a low-income household advocacy group.
SB517,5,1311 2. One member appointed by the president of the senate who is a residential
12electric utility customer or who represents a residential electric utility customer
13advocacy group.
SB517,5,1514 3. One member appointed by the governor who is a small business
15representative or who represents a small business advocacy group.
SB517,5,1716 4. One member appointed by the president of the senate who represents an
17environmental or renewable resource advocacy group.
SB517,5,2018 5. One member appointed by the president of the senate who represents of a
19municipal utility or retail cooperative or municipal utility or retail cooperative
20advocacy group.
SB517,5,2221 6. One member appointed by the speaker of the assembly who is a member of
22a low-income household or who represents a low-income household advocacy group.
SB517,5,2423 7. One member appointed by the speaker of the assembly who represents an
24environmental or renewable resource advocacy group.
SB517,6,2
18. One member appointed by the speaker of the assembly who represents an
2electric utility or electric utility advocacy group.
SB517,6,43 9. One member appointed by the chairperson of the public service commission
4to represent the public service commission.
SB517,6,65 10. One member appointed by the secretary of natural resources to represent
6the department of natural resources.
SB517,6,87 11. One member appointed by the administrator of the division of housing in
8the department of administration to represent the division of housing.
SB517,6,179 (c) 1. a. Notwithstanding par. (b) (intro.) and 5., if fewer than one-third of the
10municipal utilities and retail cooperatives doing business in this state notify the
11board under s. 196.96 (5) (b) 1. that they have elected not to contribute to any of the
12programs established under s. 196.96 (2) (a) or (b), the president of the senate shall
13appoint a representative of an electric utility or electric utility advocacy group to
14succeed the member appointed under par. (b) 5. and the member appointed under
15par. (b) 5. shall vacate his or her membership at the time that the member is
16appointed under this subd. 1. a. A member appointed under this subd. 1. a. shall
17serve on the board until a member is appointed under subd. 2.
SB517,6,2318 b. If one-third or more of the municipal utilities and retail cooperatives doing
19business in this state notify the board under s. 196.96 (5) (b) 1. that they have elected
20to contribute to any of the programs established under s. 196.96 (2) (a) or (b), the
21member appointed under par. (b) 5. shall serve for a term expiring on the first day
22of the 48th month beginning after the effective date of this subd. 1. b. .... [revisor
23inserts date].
SB517,7,424 2. a. If one-third or more of the municipal utilities and retail cooperatives doing
25business in this state notify the board under s. 196.96 (5) (b) 2. that they have elected

1to contribute to any of the programs established under s. 196.96 (2) (a) or (b), the
2president of the senate shall appoint one member to the board who is a
3representative of a municipal utility or retail cooperative or municipal utility or
4retail cooperative advocacy group for a 3-year term.
SB517,7,105 b. Notwithstanding par. (b) (intro.) or 5., if fewer than one-third of the
6municipal utilities and retail cooperatives doing business in this state notify the
7board under s. 196.96 (5) (b) 2. that they have elected not to contribute to any of the
8programs established under s. 196.96 (2) (a) or (b), the president of the senate shall
9appoint a member to the board who is a representative of an electric utility or electric
10utility advocacy group for a 3-year term.
SB517, s. 4 11Section 4. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert
12the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table PDF
SB517, s. 5 13Section 5. 20.155 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,7,1714 20.155 (1m) Public benefits and energy assistance board. (q) General
15program operations.
From the public benefits and energy assistance fund, a sum
16sufficient for general program operations of the public benefits and energy
17assistance board.
SB517,7,2018 (r) Grants. From the public benefits and energy assistance fund, a sum
19sufficient for low-income assistance grants under s. 196.96 (2) (a) and energy
20conservation and efficiency and renewable resource grants under s. 196.96 (2) (b).
SB517,8,3
1(s) Compensation of intervenors. From the public benefits and energy
2assistance fund, the amounts in the schedule for compensating persons who
3intervene in hearings under the rules promulgated under s. 196.96 (2) (e) 3.
SB517, s. 6 4Section 6. 25.17 (1) (kx) of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,8,55 25.17 (1) (kx) Public benefits and energy assistance fund (s. 25.96);
SB517, s. 7 6Section 7. 25.96 of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,8,10 725.96 Public benefits and energy assistance fund. There is established
8a separate nonlapsible trust fund designated as the public benefits and energy
9assistance fund, consisting of the access fees received under s. 196.96 (4) (a) and (5)
10(c) and (d) and contributions received under s. 196.96 (2) (f) and (g).
SB517, s. 8 11Section 8. 196.374 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB517,8,1912 196.374 (1) In this section, "utility" means a class A gas or electric utility, as
13defined by the commission. Every utility shall spend annually at least 0.5% of its
14total annual operating revenues
the amount specified in s. 196.96 (4) (d) 1. on
15programs designed to promote and accomplish energy conservation. The commission
16may require a utility to spend annually
, for the purpose of promoting and
17accomplishing energy conservation, an amount which is more or less than 0.5% of its
18annual operating revenues if, after notice and hearing, the commission finds that the
19expenditure of such amount is in the public interest.
SB517, s. 9 20Section 9. 196.374 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,8,2121 196.374 (4) This section does not apply after June 30, 2002.
SB517, s. 10 22Section 10. 196.378 of the statutes is created to read:
SB517,8,23 23196.378 Renewable resources. (1) Definitions. In this section:
SB517,9,224 (a) "Biomass" means a resource that generates energy from wood or plant
25material or residue, biological waste, crops grown for use as a resource or landfill

1gases. "Biomass" does not include garbage, as defined in s. 289.01 (9), or industrial,
2commercial or household waste.
SB517,9,43 (b) "Capacity" means the amount of electricity that an electric or gas provider
4is capable of delivering to its customers or members at a specified time.
SB517,9,65 (c) "Conventional resource" means a resource that generates energy from coal,
6oil, nuclear power or natural gas, except for natural gas used in a fuel cell.
SB517,9,87 (d) "Electric or gas provider" means an electric or gas utility or retail
8cooperative.
SB517,9,109 (e) "Electric or gas utility" means a public utility that generates, transmits,
10delivers or furnishes electricity or gas.
SB517,9,1211 (f) "Municipal utility" means an electric or gas utility that is owned or operated
12wholly by a municipality.
SB517,9,1313 (g) "Renewable resource" means any of the following:
SB517,9,1414 1. A resource that generates energy from any of the following:
SB517,9,1515 a. A fuel cell that uses, as determined by the commission, a renewable fuel.
SB517,9,1616 b. Tidal action.
SB517,9,1717 c. Solar photovoltaic energy.
SB517,9,1818 d. Wind power.
SB517,9,1919 e. Geothermal technology.
SB517,9,2020 f. Hydroelectric power.
SB517,9,2121 g. Biomass.
SB517,9,2322 2. Any other resource, except a conventional resource, that the commission
23designates as a renewable resource in rules promulgated under sub. (4).
SB517,10,3
1(h) "Renewable resource credit" means a percentage by which an electric or gas
2provider's renewable resource percentage exceeds a percentage of the electric or gas
3provider's system peak load share specified in sub. (2) (a) 1. to 6.
SB517,10,54 (i) "Renewable resource percentage" means the percentage of an electric or gas
5provider's capacity that is generated from renewable resources.
SB517,10,66 (j) "Resource" means a source of electric power generation.
SB517,10,87 (k) "Retail cooperative" means a cooperative association organized under ch.
8185 for the purpose of providing electricity or gas at retail to its members only.
SB517,10,119 (L) "System peak load" means the maximum amount of electricity that was
10delivered to all customers or members of all electric or gas providers at any one time
11during the period from May 1, 1996, to September 15, 1996.
SB517,10,1512 (m) "System peak load share" means the amount of electricity that was
13delivered to all customers or members of an electric or gas provider by the electric
14or gas provider at the time that the system peak load was delivered to all customers
15or members of all electric or gas providers.
SB517,10,18 16(2) Renewable resource percentages. (a) The renewable resource percentage
17of an electric or gas provider, as calculated under par. (b), shall be at least the
18following percentages of the electric or gas provider's system peak load share:
SB517,10,1919 1. By December 31, 2000, 1%.
SB517,10,2020 2. By December 31, 2002, 1.5%.
SB517,10,2121 3. By December 31, 2004, 2%.
SB517,10,2222 4. By December 31, 2006, 2.5%.
SB517,10,2323 5. By December 31, 2008, 3%.
SB517,10,2424 6. By December 31, 2010, 4%.
SB517,11,2
1(b) In calculating an electric or gas provider's renewable resource percentage
2under par. (a), each of the following applies:
SB517,11,63 1. Any amount of capacity that is generated from hydroelectric power and that
4is more than 1% of the electric or gas provider's system peak load share may not be
5counted as part of the provider's capacity that is generated from renewable
6resources.
SB517,11,107 1g. An electric or gas provider may not count as part of the provider's capacity
8that is generated from renewable resources any capacity that the electric provider
9is required, as determined by the commission, to generate from renewable resources
10under the law of another state.
SB517,11,1311 1r. An electric or gas provider may count as part of the provider's capacity that
12is generated from renewable resources only that capacity which is installed and
13rated on the basis of periodic tests.
SB517,11,1614 2. The amount of any renewable resource credit purchased by the electric or gas
15provider under sub. (3) may be counted as part of the provider's capacity that is
16generated from renewable resources.
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