July 29, 2002—In a first for a Wisconsin utility, Wisconsin Energy Corp. has committed that at least 5 percent of its retail electric energy sales will come from renewable energy sources by 2011. The company will also spend an additional $6 million annually over ten years to reach this target, pending regulatory approval.
Wisconsin Energy has also formed a Renewable Energy Collaborative that will assist in developing an action plan to help meet the r percent target. The plan includes:
- Identifying and developing pricing mechanisms and marketing initiatives to help achieve the 5 percent renewable electricity sales target while minimizing rate impacts;
- Examining the use of tradable renewable energy certificates to account for part of the new renewable energy supply;
- Developing a plan to increase net billing capacity ceilings for customer-owned renewable systems in the Wisconsin Energy service area;
- Initiating feasibility studies on innovative renewable energy development such as offshore wind development in Lake Michigan;
- Initiating feasibility studies on market-oriented vehicles for pooling private investment capital into distributed renewable generation projects; and
- Developing a plan to use volume purchasing of modular renewable generation to lower the cost of Wisconsin Energy customer-owned renewable systems.
For more information, contact Wisconsin Energy.
