Two Victories with Utilities to Celebrate!

It’s nice to wake up to good news. Having had my battles with power companies in the past, I am glad to report progress in two areas.

First, Madison Gas & Electric runs one of the dirtiest power plants in the state in the heart of my district. It is dirty simply because it’s old and was grandfathered under former discharge guidelines. MG&E has always tried to be a good corporate partner to the community, and this week announced they would stop burning coal to generate electricity in the next six years. That is great news for people living in Madison, especially the often soot-coated Isthmus! A few weeks back I joined environmental groups in asking MG&E to come up with a plan for a quick clean-up of their plant, and they were obviously listening to this and other requests we’ve made over the past several years.

And second, Alliant Energy, infamous for their non-US risky investments, has decided to sell its holdings in Brazil. I’ve been critical of this practice of offshore investments in the past, and even have a bill in drafting to ban the practice (LRB-2938). No matter how often a utility says poor investments won’t affect rates for consumers, it doesn’t add up to reality. I am glad to see Alliant take this step and I hope they will make it a practice to no longer make risky investments offshore in the future.

It sure is nice to wake up to good news when you serve in the Wisconsin legislature. That doesn’t happen nearly enough.