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.
August 20, 2019: PSC misses the mark by approving a risky power line that may never deliver on its promises
Posted: September 17, 2019 by Rich Storck
Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin (CUB) strongly disagrees with Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) approval today of a $500 million power line project from Dubuque, Iowa to Middleton, Wisconsin.
CUB’s legal brief in the case, filed in July, disputes evidence claiming that the line is needed for reliability and that it will deliver promised benefits. Furthermore, the application to build the line failed to provide a complete analysis and left too many questions unanswered regarding the risks to ratepayers and the ability of the project to deliver low-cost energy.
“The PSC found that this project will deliver renewable energy and savings for Wisconsin customers. We certainly hope that is the case, but our expert’s analysis found otherwise, and we continue to believe that Wisconsin customers are at risk that the costs they face won’t be offset by the benefits the line brings to the state,” said Tom Content, CUB’s executive director.
CUB’s brief also warned that the line may not bring in low-cost wind power.
“The PSC justified its decision in part on the ability of the line to bring in low-cost renewable energy. However, this is not guaranteed,” said Content. “The utilities themselves never modeled how much new wind power would be generated by this project, and the limited analysis they did perform showed the line would bring only a small amount of wind and solar power into Wisconsin.”
In addition, the applicants’ analysis was insufficient regarding advances in utility-scale solar projects and battery storage.
“CUB continues to believe that time has passed this project by, given advances in technology that have brought down the cost of alternatives such as solar and storage,” concluded Content.
Category: Press Releases, Utility Cases, Utility News