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.
Settlements Approved: Give and Take Lead to Good Deals for Customers
Posted: September 26, 2018 by Tom Content
We’ve got good news for customers of utilities based in Madison, thanks to settlements CUB and other stakeholders have negotiated with utilities.
In August, state regulators unanimously approved a settlement that will keep rates stable for the next two years for Wisconsin Power and Light, the Alliant Energy utility based in Madison.
Then, just last week, the PSC voted to endorse a settlement for Madison Gas and Electric Co. customers. This settlement will cut rates by about 2%, or $7 million, in 2019 and keep rates unchanged from 2019 to 2020.
CUB, which filed these comments in support of the deal, wasn’t the only group to sign on to the deal. MG&E brought together a diverse group of stakeholders including UW-Madison, Airgas, the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, Renew Wisconsin and Clean Wisconsin. Plus, of course, CUB, the independent voice of small business and residential customers.
The settlements show that the new law enacted by the Legislature is producing results for customers.
The settlements law encourages utilities to negotiate their rate plans for the coming year with stakeholder groups and then present a settlement package to the PSC. Compared with a typical rate case, the new process shortens the review time and limits the scope of the audit and analysis performed by the PSC staff.
You may recall that CUB raised concerns about the Settlements Law when it was being considered in the Legislature. Our chief concern: The process would move too quickly, and customer advocates wouldn’t have access to all the information they needed to assess whether a settlement was in the public interest.
As it turned out, negotiations with both Alliant and MG&E showed that the settlements law could work – IF the utilities provide plenty of information, and begin negotiating with us well in advance of any deadlines written into the new law, as both Alliant and MG&E did.
As we said in our comments: “Time, information, and compromise are essential for an equitable rate case settlement. All of these elements were present in the negotiation process, resulting in a Settlement Agreement that is favorable for all of MGE’s ratepayers.”
We may not like every settlement that a given utility will proposed, but there’s a lot to like about this deal, including bringing down prices for customers but also MG&E’s willingness to work with CUB on some new innovative pilot rate programs that could be unveiled in the coming months. Here’s a link to our comments in support.
Category: Utility Cases, Utility News