Public Service comment on MGE … 9/22/2023
I am against MGE’s proposal to raise rates – 9.6% over two years, and their proposal to end net metering for new customers.
Net metering has been found to be the best way to encourage adoption of rooftop solar, and rooftop solar makes the grid more robust. If we stop it, then fewer people will adopt rooftop solar because they have no idea when - if ever- their investment will pay off. This will handicap our fledgling solar industry here in Wisconsin, and put us further behind in getting to net zero carbon.
Government has been encouraging clean energy with tax credits for rooftop solar. But if the PSC approves this, it will undo much of that encouragement. Eliminating net metering anywhere in Wisconsin affects us all, because the companies are using each other as examples in their arguments to fight. They have the power- we customers rely on you to regulate them.
They want to raise all rates, but MGE is proposing to keep its profit rate, or return on equity, at 9.8%. This rate is still higher than the national average and is more than is needed to attract capital on Wall Street.
This is too much for a monopoly, and in fact they are already reporting a 2022 profit of $111 million, or more than double the size of the 2024 rate increases being sought. Customers across the country are overpaying by billions from profit rates that have remained far too high for far too long.
Eliminating net metering would also mean diminished access to rooftop solar for future customers, further widening the clean energy access and equity gap we are fighting to eliminate. All Wisconsinites should benefit from our state’s clean energy transition - now is not the time to derail the progress made on distributed solar.
Please do NOT approve these high rate increases, and do NOT approve the elimination of net metering. Their arguments are all about the profit they should earn, and their investments. Thus, they can afford to keep rates stable. They have NO competition. You can do the right thing for us customers and for our state to move to a more sustainable future.