You have a business to run. It is hard to stay on top of things locally let alone at the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) where your electric rates are set. That’s where the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin comes in. We advocate for all small utility customers from individual citizens to small businesses and farmers for fair, safe and reliable utility service. We monitor the changing energy world and put the utility customer first.
CUB small business members benefit from our team of legislative, utility and communications experts who advocate tirelessly for your business at the Public Service Commission, the state Capitol, in the courts, and at regulatory agencies.
Small Business Membership Benefits:
Advocacy: CUB business membership keeps you up-to-date on issues that matter to you.
- Monthly electronic newsletters highlighting key cases before the PSC, issues before the Legislature, and information to help you control energy costs.
- Action Alerts keep you notified and enable you to get involved, when important decisions are up for hearing/vote.
- CUB works as Your Independent Consumer Voice at the table for small business interests when the PSC sets rates and energy policy.
Empowerment: CUB will help you take action and share your thoughts with Wisconsin government officials.
- Confused by your bill? We can explain it.
- Problem with your utility service and pricing? We will answer questions and help you work with your utility.
- Who makes these decisions anyway? We will show your staff how to interact with the PSC and legislators
Access: CUB can help your organization and employees save resources and money.
- Host a “utility bill clinic” about ways to help residents and businesses save money on their utility bills.
- Promote your support of fair, safe and reliable utility rates with the CUB small business member badge.
Outreach: CUB will help small business members partner with other members and like-minded organizations to bring these issues to the public. CUB staff can answer questions about energy related matters as well as provide free one-on-one utility bill consultations.
Partnership Opportunities: CUB partners with community groups interested in learning about utility issues. We provide presentations on how to understand your utility bills, how the PSC works and how you can get involved. Plus, we can provide information on energy costs you can control. Let us know what you’re interested in, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
April 16, 2010: CEJA Will Reduce Electricity Bills
Posted: April 16, 2010 by Leah Steinberg
For Immediate Release: April 16, 2010
Clean Energy Jobs Act Will Reduce Electricity Bills
MADISON – The Citizens Utility Board would like to note that the energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, as amended, will result in lower electricity bills than under a business-as-usual approach.
The Public Service Commission recently conducted an analysis of future electricity bills if investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy are increased as proposed in the amended Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA).
Using conservative assumptions, the analysis by the Public Service Commission shows that the costs to meet electricity demand through 2025 are lower by at least $1.4 billion when compared to a status quo reliance on fossil fuels for producing electricity. In addition, the analysis shows that average monthly residential bills would increase more under the status quo reliance on fossil fuels than under the amended CEJA bill until the year 2025, when the status quo is $0.62 per month less, and with the most conservative analysis assumptions.
The PSC’s analysis does not include the positive impacts to the Wisconsin economy from increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, which other studies conclude will create thousands of jobs in Wisconsin during the next 15 years.
Regarding nuclear power, the original version of CEJA correctly reflected the recommendations of Governor Jim Doyle’s Task Force on Global Warming, on which CUB served. Unfortunately, the amended CEJA bill greatly weakens Wisconsin’s protections against nuclear power. Should a new nuclear plant be built in Wisconsin, electricity rates would skyrocket to unimaginable levels, and we would be stuck with ever-increasing amounts of radioactive nuclear waste for which there remains no safe method of disposal.
However, the energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions of the amended CEJA bill would reduce electricity bills, as shown by the recent analysis by the Public Service Commission. These provisions would also reduce pollution and create more Wisconsin jobs than a continued reliance on fossil and nuclear fuels for producing most of our electricity.
CUB recommends adoption of the amended CEJA bill, provided the provisions regarding nuclear power are restored to the version found in the original CEJA bills AB 649 and SB 450.
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Category: Press Releases Tags: CEJA, CUB News, government