Dive Brief:
- An expansion plan for solar power in Madison, Wisconsin, has support from lawmakers, environmentalists, unions and more. The only major entity with reservations, it seems, is the local utility.
- Madison Gas & Electric has signaled it believes federal oversight may be required to consider a plan by the city of Madison, Wisc., to deploy about 60 MW of solar by 2025 .The city is asking for funding from the Department of Energy to help install the MadiSUN Megawatts Solar Market Pathways, which would boost the city's solar generation from the current 2.6 MW.
- The city estimated the project would reduce the "soft costs" surrounding solar power installation by about 40%, but MGE said the utility is not taking into account the costs to maintain the distribution grid.
Dive Insight:
The city has asked the Department of Energy for about $600,000 to support the 10-year solar plan, but Isthmus reports that Madison Gas & Electric has concerns about the impacts of the project.
"In its current form, the project's size and scope require state and federal regulatory oversight," MGE spokesman Steve Kraus told Isthmus via email. "The project also has large technical and grid reliability impacts, which require a comprehensive engineering study. And, MGE has made a commitment to all customers to engage them in a community-wide discussion that will help set a direction for the Madison area's energy future."
In a July letter to the DOE, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin wrote "today in Wisconsin the responsibility for promoting clean energy has become the domain of cities." The state, Soglin said, "has retreated from that role."
The biggest chunk of Madison's plan, some 22 MW, calls for customer-sited solar; the utility is proposing to own 10 MW as well.