In 2006 former Gov. Jim Doyle increased Wisconsin’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires state utilities to derive 10 percent of their retail electricity sales from renewable sources by 2015.
Qualifying sources include tidal and wave energy, fuel cells using renewable fuels, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower with less than 60 megawatts capacity, biomass, and landfill waste energy.
The law sets a graduated compliance schedule. For each interim compliance year, utilities may not reduce their renewable-energy percentage below their average renewable-energy percentage from selected previous years.
Utilities may buy and sell renewable resource credits (RRCs) to meet the requirement. Hydropower sources receive a special multiplier in the RRC trading system.
Utilities that cannot meet the requirement may petition the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) for a one-year extension from compliance. The PSC must determine by June 1, 2016 if the overall RPS goal will be met, and if not determine why the mandate cannot be met.
Source: Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency