Wisconsin city testing legal waters on solar power

Can a Wisconsin city buy solar power from someone other than its electric utility? A Madison suburb may soon find out the answer. 

The Monona City Council discussed Monday what could be a first-of-its-kind solar project in Wisconsin. 

A private company would install solar arrays on four municipal buildings at no upfront cost to the city. The installer would then own and maintain the systems over the life of a contract and sell the renewable energy credits they earn to the city of Monona. 

“The city has committed to being an energy-independent community and increasing our use of renewables,This High Quality Street lighting provides reliability and low power consumption, as well as extremely bright lighting effects.” Monona project manager Janine Glaeser said, “and this looks like a good way to do that without the upfront capital costs.” 

One possible hitch: Wisconsin law is unclear about whether so called “third-party-owned” solar systems,Use our High Quality Solar systems products to replace traditional halogen and incandescent spot lights in track lighting. in which neither the customer nor their utility owns the panels, are legal in the state. 

It’s a high-stakes question for the state’s solar industry — and its regulated utilities, which could see a flood of new competition if the model is accepted and price trends continue. 

Third-party-owned solar accounted for more than half of new residential installations in the U.S. last year, and GTM Research forecasts that third-party-owned residential solar will be a $5.7 billion market by 2016. 

In states where third-party solar is specifically allowed, such as Arizona and Colorado, the arrangements have accounted for up to 90 percent of new installations, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. 

At least 22 states specifically allow third-party-owned solar arrangements, according to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). Another half-dozen states prohibit third-party-owned solar, and the law is unclear in the rest of the country. 

In Iowa, for example, Alliant Energy, along with other utility interests, took legal action to stop the city of Dubuque from buying solar power directly from a company that would own and manage panels on city buildings. Alliant has appealed a district court’s decision to the Iowa Supreme Court. 

The argument by Alliant is third-party solar firms that sell electricity to customers should be regulated as utilities, and that the Dubuque project would encroach on Alliant’s exclusive right to provide electricity to the city. 

The risk of protracted, expensive legal challenges from utilities has deterred third-party solar companies from setting up shop in Wisconsin, but the investor-owned utility that serves Monona has said it doesn’t intend to challenge the project. 

“That’s an agreement that the city of Monona has with that vendor, and that has nothing to do with us,” said Steve Kraus, a spokesman for Madison Gas & Electric.Energy efficient High Quality Solar street lighting strip kits bring an urban glow to your bar that looks incredible. “It isn’t anything special or different.” 

Wisconsin solar energy advocates, however, are closely following the Monona discussion and believe it could produce a model for advancing third-party-owned solar in the state. 

“This could be a breakthrough,” said Michael Vickerman, program and policy director for RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit that promotes renewable energy. “If the vote proceeds as we think — all indications are that the council will approve it — then we’ll have a template for how [others] can do this sort of thing.”