We Energies seeks permission for fee on customers with solar panels, frustrating renewable advocates

We Energies has asked Wisconsin regulators for permission to impose an additional fee on customers who use solar panels, a step that an industry group argues could discourage people from installing renewable-energy projects.

The Milwaukee- based utility is seeking permission from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to charge customers who rely on solar power $3.53 for every kilowatt used a month, a change that would cost solar customers about $12 a month on average starting on Jan. 1, 2021, according to a spokesman for the utility. The solar fee is part of a broader request We Energies filed on May 3  to adjust its rates.

Renewable-energy groups were quick to express opposition. The Alliance for Solar Choice, an industry group backed by solar companies, said We Energies’ proposed fee is “discriminatory” and would make solar-generation systems too expensive for some families.

The idea is not new, though. We Energies tried to impose a similar fee on solar customers in 2014. The request was initially approved by state utility regulators but later overturned in court.

“This proposal is out-of-step for our shared Wisconsin values of self-reliance and care for our environment,” said Amy Hart, a spokeswoman for The Alliance for Solar Choice. “We should be expanding access to solar, not limiting it and making it more expensive.”

We Energies, meanwhile, argues the proposed fee is meant to ensure everyone is paying his fair share for using the electrical grid. Brendan Conway, a spokesman for the utility, said customers who lower their utility bills using solar power unfairly, although inadvertently, shift the cost of maintaining the power grid onto customers who have no solar installations.

There are about 700 customers with solar installations in We Energies’ territory, Conway said.

He said the proposed fee is “an acknowledgement that we need to wrap our hands around this before it becomes a huge cost shift.”

“The longer you go without addressing this, the longer the cost shifting becomes,” Conway said. “Even if the cost is pennies on the dollar, it becomes about fairness. I like my neighbor, but I shouldn’t have to pay for their solar power when I can’t have solar because I have an apartment.”

We Energies is seeking to impose a special fee on solar customers even as it’s trying to raise its rates for all customers. The utility company is seeking to increase its so-called fixed charges from $16 to $17.65. Fixed charges are amounts that residential customers must pay in the same amounts regardless of how much power they use in a given month.

Although owning a solar panel could become costlier under We Energies’ plan, Ed Zinthefer, president and owner of Plymouth-based Arch Electric, said he doesn’t expect the proposed fee to hinder demand for solar-generation systems.

Zinthefer said the company so far this year has already installed more than twice the amount of solar capacity it did in all of 2018. Last year, the company installed about 4.5 megawatts worth of solar power. This year, it has already put in 10 megawatts.

But Zinthefer remembers the last time We Energies tried to impose a solar-energy fee. Some customers were then so frustrated, they not only went out and bought solar systems but also hired Arch to help them disconnect their homes from the electrical grid.

Zinthefer said his concerns stem not just from his position as a business owners. Should We Energies’ plan be approved by regulators, he’d be paying about $1,000 a year for his 24 kilowatt system.

“The trend is continuing, the opportunities are presenting themselves at a pretty rapid pace,” Zinthefer said. “We do wish we had a friend in the utility industry.” Follow @natebeck9