16.955(4)(a)(a) The department or any of its authorized agents may, in relation to any matter arising under this section, conduct hearings, administer oaths, issue subpoenas and take testimony.
16.955(4)(b)
(b) The witnesses subpoenaed by the department or its agent and officers who serve subpoenas shall be entitled to the fees allowed in courts of record. The fees shall be audited and paid by the state in the same manner as other expenses of the department are audited and paid. No witness subpoenaed at the instance of any party other than the department is entitled to payment of fees by the state, unless the department certifies that the testimony of the witness was material.
16.955(4)(c)
(c) Any person who unlawfully fails to attend as a witness or refuses to testify may be compelled to do so as provided in
s. 885.12.
16.955(4)(d)
(d) A record of all hearings shall be kept by the department. All hearings shall be public.
16.955 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also ch.
Adm 40, Wis. adm. code.
16.956
16.956
Office of energy independence. 16.956(1)(a)
(a) "Biodevelopment" means research and development relating to the use of renewable resources for electricity, energy, and heating and transportation fuels.
16.956(1)(b)
(b) "Bioindustry" means the manufacture, production, and trade of renewable resources used for electricity, energy, and heating and transportation fuels.
16.956(1)(bg)
(bg) "Biorefinery" means a facility, including equipment and processes, that converts biomass into fuels and products and may produce electricity.
16.956(1)(c)
(c) "Office" means the office of energy independence.
16.956(2)
(2) The office shall work on initiatives that have the following goals:
16.956(2)(a)
(a) Advancing Wisconsin's vision for energy independence by generating at least 25 percent of power, and at least 25 percent of transportation fuels, used in this state from renewable resources by 2025.
16.956(2)(b)
(b) Capturing in-state at least 10 percent of the national emerging bioindustry and renewable energy markets by 2030.
16.956(2)(c)
(c) Ensuring that Wisconsin is a national leader in all of the following:
16.956(2)(c)1.
1. Groundbreaking research that will make alternative energies more affordable and create well-paying jobs in this state.
16.956(2)(c)3.
3. Advancing the sale and use in all types of motor vehicles of blends of gasoline and a biofuel that contain more than 10 percent of the biofuel.
16.956(3)
(3) The office shall do all of the following:
16.956(3)(a)
(a) Ensure and facilitate the implementation of the initiatives specified in
sub. (2) and identify barriers to the implementation of such initiatives. The office shall serve as the central unit of state government to coordinate the activities of all executive branch agencies in connection with these initiatives.
16.956(3)(b)
(b) Serve as a single point of contact to assist businesses, local units of government, and nongovernmental organizations that are pursuing biodevelopment, energy efficiency, and energy independence.
16.956(3)(c)
(c) Develop energy independence policy options for consideration by the governor, the legislature, and the executive branch agencies.
16.956(3)(d)
(d) Identify federal funding opportunities and facilitate applications for federal funding by private, and state and local governmental, entities.
16.956(3)(e)
(e) Perform duties necessary to maintain federal energy funding and any designations required for such funding.
16.956(3)(f)
(f) Pursue, in cooperation with the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection, the establishment and maintenance of sufficient alternative fuel refueling facilities at public retail outlets to meet the traveling needs of the public.
16.956(4)
(4) Other state agencies shall assist the office in fulfilling its duties under this section to the fullest extent possible.
16.956 History
History: 2007 a. 20;
2009 a. 401.
16.957
16.957
Low-income assistance. 16.957(1)(bm)
(bm) "Commission" means the public service commission.
16.957(1)(c)
(c) "Commitment to community program" means a program by or on behalf of a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative for low-income assistance.
16.957(1)(f)
(f) "Electric provider" means an electric utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(1)(g)
(g) "Electric utility" means a public utility that owns or operates a retail electric distribution system.
16.957(1)(k)
(k) "Local unit of government" means the governing body of any county, city, town, village or county utility district or the elected tribal governing body of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band.
16.957(1)(L)
(L) "Low-income assistance" means assistance to low-income households for weatherization and other energy conservation services, payment of energy bills or early identification or prevention of energy crises.
16.957(1)(m)
(m) "Low-income household" means any individual or group of individuals in this state who are living together as one economic unit and for whom residential electricity is customarily purchased in common or who make undesignated payments for electricity in the form of rent, and whose household income is not more than 60 percent of the statewide median household income.
16.957(1)(n)
(n) "Low-income need" means the amount obtained by subtracting from the total low-income energy bills in a fiscal year the product of 2.2% of the estimated average annual income of low-income households in this state in that fiscal year multiplied by the estimated number of low-income households in this state in that fiscal year.
16.957(1)(o)
(o) "Low-income need percentage" means the percentage that results from dividing the sum of the following by the amount of low-income need in fiscal year 1998-99:
16.957(1)(o)2.
2. The total amount expended by utilities under s.
196.374, 2003 stats., related to low-income assistance.
16.957(1)(o)3.
3. Fifty percent of the amount of public benefits fees that municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives were required to charge under s.
16.957 (5) (a), 1999 stats., in fiscal year 1999-2000.
16.957(1)(p)
(p) "Low-income need target" means the product of the low-income need percentage multiplied by low-income need in a fiscal year.
16.957(1)(q)
(q) "Municipal utility" means an electric utility that is owned wholly by a municipality and that owns a retail distribution system.
16.957(1)(s)
(s) "Retail capacity" means the total amount of electricity that an electric provider is capable of delivering to its retail customers or members and that is supplied by electric generating facilities owned or operated by the electric provider or any other person. "Retail capacity" does not include any electricity that is not used to satisfy the electric provider's retail load obligations.
16.957(1)(t)
(t) "Retail electric cooperative" means a cooperative association that is organized under
ch. 185 for the purpose of providing electricity at retail to its members only and that owns or operates a retail electric distribution system.
16.957(1)(u)
(u) "Total low-income energy bills" means the total estimated amount that all low-income households are billed for residential electricity, natural gas and heating fuel in a fiscal year.
16.957(1)(v)
(v) "Wholesale electric cooperative" means a cooperative association that is organized under
ch. 185 for the purpose of providing electricity at wholesale to its members only.
16.957(1)(w)
(w) "Wholesale supplier" means a wholesale electric cooperative or a municipal electric company, as defined in
s. 66.0825 (3) (d), that supplies electricity at wholesale to a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(1)(x)
(x) "Wholesale supply percentage" means the percentage of the electricity sold by a wholesale supplier that is purchased by a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative.
16.957(2)
(2) Department duties. In consultation with the council, the department shall do all of the following:
16.957(2)(a)
(a)
Low-income programs. After holding a hearing, establish programs to be administered by the department for awarding grants from the appropriation under
s. 20.505 (3) (r) to provide low-income assistance. In each fiscal year, the amount awarded under this paragraph shall be sufficient to ensure that an amount equal to 47% of the sum of the following, or the amount determined under
par. (d) 2m., is spent for weatherization and other energy conservation services:
16.957(2)(a)2.
2. All moneys spent in a fiscal year for low-income programs established under s.
196.374, 2003 stats.
16.957(2)(a)3.
3. All moneys spent in a fiscal year on programs established under this paragraph.
16.957(2)(c)
(c)
Rules. Promulgate rules establishing all of the following:
16.957(2)(c)1.
1. Eligibility requirements for low-income assistance under programs established under
par. (a). The rules shall prohibit a person who receives low-income assistance from a municipal utility or retail electric cooperative under a program specified in
sub. (5) (b) 1. from receiving low-income assistance under programs established under
par. (a).
16.957(2)(c)2.
2. Requirements and procedures for applications for grants awarded under programs established under
par. (a).
16.957(2)(c)5.
5. A method for estimating total low-income energy bills, average annual income of low-income households and the number of low-income households in a fiscal year for the purpose of determining the amount of low-income need in the fiscal year.
16.957(2)(d)1.1. For each fiscal year, determine the low-income need target for that fiscal year.
16.957(2)(d)2m.
2m. In fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11, at the department's discretion, subtract no more than $10,000,000 from the amount required to be spent on weatherization and other energy conservation services under
par. (a).
Effective date note
NOTE: Subd. 2m. is repealed eff. 6-30-11 by
2009 Wis. Act 28.
16.957(2)(d)4.
4. Provide for an annual independent audit and submit an annual report to the legislature under
s. 13.172 (2) that describes each of the following:
16.957(2)(d)4.a.
a. The expenses of the department, other state agencies, and grant recipients in administering or participating in the programs under
par. (a).
16.957(2)(d)4.b.
b. The effectiveness of the programs under
par. (a) in providing assistance to low-income individuals.
16.957(2)(d)4.d.
d. Any other issue identified by the department, council, governor, speaker of the assembly or majority leader of the senate.
16.957(3)
(3) Contracts. The department shall, on the basis of competitive bids, contract with community action agencies described in
s. 49.265 (2) (a) 1., nonstock, nonprofit corporations organized under
ch. 181, or local units of government to provide services under the programs established under
sub. (2) (a).
16.957(4)(a)(a)
Requirement to charge low-income assistance fees. Each electric utility, except for a municipal utility, shall charge each customer a low-income assistance fee in an amount established in rules promulgated by the department under
par. (b). An electric utility, except for a municipal utility, shall collect and pay the fees to the department in accordance with the rules promulgated under
par. (b). The low-income assistance fees collected by an electric utility shall be considered trust funds of the department and not income of the electric utility.
16.957(4)(am)
(am)
Electric bills. An electric utility shall show the low-income assistance fee as a separate line in a customer's bill, identified as the "state low-income assistance fee," and shall provide the customer with an annual statement that identifies the annual charges for low-income assistance fees and describes the programs for which fees are used.
16.957(4)(b)
(b)
Rules. In consultation with the council, the department shall promulgate rules that establish the amount of a low-income assistance fee under
par. (a). Fees established in rules under this paragraph may vary by class of customer, but shall be uniform within each class, and shall satisfy each of the following:
16.957(4)(b)1.
1. The fees may not be based on the kilowatt-hour consumption of electricity by customers.
16.957(4)(b)2.
2. Seventy percent of the total amount of fees charged by an electric provider may be charged to residential customers and 30% of the total may be charged to nonresidential customers.
16.957(4)(b)3.
3. The fees shall allow an electric provider to recover the reasonable and prudent expenses incurred by the electric provider in complying with this section.
16.957(4)(c)
(c)
Amount of low-income assistance fees. A fee established in rules promulgated under
par. (b) shall satisfy each of the following:
16.957(4)(c)1.
1. `Low-income funding from fee.' In each fiscal year, the low-income assistance fee shall be an amount that, when added to the sum of the following shall equal the low-income need target for that fiscal year determined by the department under
sub. (2) (d) 1.:
16.957(4)(c)1.a.
a. The estimated low-income assistance fees charged by municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives under
sub. (5) (a) for that fiscal year.
16.957(4)(c)1.c.
c. The total amount spent on programs by utilities under s.
196.374 (3), 2003 stats., for that fiscal year for low-income assistance.
16.957(4)(c)3.
3. `Limitation on low-income assistance fees.' In any month, the low-income assistance fee may not exceed 3% of the total of every other charge for which the customer is billed for that month or $750, whichever is less.
16.957(5)
(5) Municipal utilities and retail electric cooperatives.
