THU AM News: MGE seeking PSC approval for second Shared Solar program; DHS submits opioid settlement plan to budget committee

April 4, 2024

— Madison Gas and Electric is seeking approval for a new solar energy program for customers, building on an existing offering called Shared Solar.

MGE is asking the state Public Service Commission to approve its proposal for Shared Solar II, which would give certain customers the option to pay an up-front fee to get energy from a local solar array over a six-year period.

The original Shared Solar program is now fully subscribed after its first installation was introduced in 2016. Participants in the program buy shares of solar energy produced by arrays at Morey Field in Middleton and the City of Middleton Municipal Operations Center.

“Shared Solar II builds on the success of our popular community solar program and provides our customers with another option for affordable, locally generated, carbon-free energy while also reducing costs for nonparticipating customers,” MGE Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Keebler said in a statement.

Residential and small business electricity customers participating in the proposed second Shared Solar program would get carbon-free energy for up to half of their annual consumption, according to a release. Their energy rate would also be locked for the six-year agreement, and the up-front fee is based on the number of shares in the program they select.

Keebler also highlights the utility’s proposal to offer an option for low-income customers, which would allow eligible customers to pay a smaller participation fee and receive a lower fixed energy rate. This option may be available for those receiving energy assistance from various sources such as the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program, the MGE Energy Fund and others, according to the announcement.

The program would be served by a six megawatt solar array called Strix Solar, which is being built on a 30-acre plot in Fitchburg by OneEnergy Renewables. MGE says Shared Solar II would account for two megawatts of the system’s output for its first six years of operation. The solar array is expected to come online before the end of the year.

See the release, and see a recent story on the clean energy transition in Wisconsin.

— The state Department of Health Services has submitted its plans for using $36 million in opioid settlement funds to the Joint Finance Committee.

The plan, covering fiscal year 2025, proposes allocating the funding across prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery efforts.

It includes $6 million for tribal nations in Wisconsin; $5 million for community, education and after-school prevention; $5 million for family support and resource centers; another $5 million for peer support in opioid treatment programs; $3.5 million for overdose reversal drug naloxone; $1 million for fentanyl test strips, and more.

Speaking yesterday during a press briefing, DHS Secretary Kirsten Johnson bemoaned the GOP-run committee’s past decisions to modify previous funding plans by removing provisions for opioid abuse prevention funding.

“It is heartbreaking when people overdose, but it is also incredibly challenging to see a loved one struggling with substance use disorder,” Johnson said. “So again, this is really intentional around both prevention, and supporting people through the recovery process, and their families, and the people who love them.”

And Dem Attorney General Josh Kaul and Johnson both argued Wisconsin needs to change gears from directly responding to overdoses by using Narcan and other immediate response methods, and instead move toward preventing overdoses from happening in the first place.

Kaul also said it is an especially perilous time for those dealing with substance abuse issues.

“Using illegal substances is always dangerous, but right now the supply of drugs that are out there is really, really toxic between fentanyl and xylazine,” he said. “It is critical for anybody who is struggling with substance use disorder to try to get the help that they need, the support that they need right now, because it’s a very dangerous time in the controlled substances world.”

The office of Joint Finance Co-Chair Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said lawmakers were still reviewing the plan.

The plan would boost the total funding for Narcan — the brand name for naloxone — and fentanyl test strips from $2.9 million in fiscal year 2024 to $4.5 million in fiscal year 2025. And it would allocate $3 million to capital projects, which didn’t get any funding in the previous approved plan but received $10 million in the one before that, covering fiscal year 2023.

The settlement funds come from an agreement with pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen as well as Johnson & Johnson. Payments from the three distributors will continue for another 14 years, while J&J payments will continue for another seven years, according to yesterday’s release. DHS notes the state will also begin getting funds this year from settlements with Teva, Allergan, Walmart, Walgreens and CVS.

The agency yesterday also announced $2.5 million in grants from previous settlement plans, going to four tribal nations and 53 counties to support about 1,300 Medicaid recipients in the state.

See the release.

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— Eighteen pilot projects aimed at improving nitrogen use on Wisconsin farms are getting more than $800,000 in grant funding through a DATCP program.

Gov. Tony Evers and the agency yesterday announced recipients of the 2024 Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program. Each selected producer will work with a Universities of Wisconsin institution during the course of the project, which will conduct monitoring and field studies on nitrogen optimization.

“Our land and water resources are the foundation of Wisconsin’s $104.8 billion agriculture industry, and this program provides farmers with additional tools to further protect and maintain those resources,” DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski said in a statement.

Each individual producer applying for the program was eligible for up to $40,000, according to the release, though several groups with multiple applicants are getting larger amounts. Another $200,000 is going to the UW System for related monitoring and research.

See more in the release.

— State officials have announced nearly $500,000 in new Wisconsin Fast Forward grants, supporting technical education for about 3,000 students.

Seventeen school districts in Wisconsin are getting funding from the state Department of Workforce Development to provide advanced manufacturing training, covering technologies such as robotics, welding, 3D printing, drones and more.

Individual grants range from about $7,000 up to $50,000, reimbursing school districts for purchasing and installing equipment used in these areas.

“There’s no denying the role of advanced manufacturing in the future of our economy and workforce right here in Wisconsin, and ensuring our kids have access to high-demand, high-skill job training opportunities is critical if we want to prepare our future workforce for the 21st Century,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.

See the list of recipients in the release.

— Evers has signed into law a bill establishing a pre-disaster flood resilience grant program under Wisconsin Emergency Management.

This division of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs will create and administer the program, which will offer grant funding for efforts to identify flood risks and improve resiliency for locals.

The new law allows up to $300,000 per assessment grant and $250,000 per implementation grant for local and tribal governments, nonprofits or private consultancies applying on behalf of local governments.

Applications will only be accepted if they’re for an area where a presidentially or governor-declared flooding disaster occurred in the previous 10 years, or if they’re for a local government unit with an approved “hazard mitigation plan” identifying local flood risk, according to a release.

See the release.

— The Wisconsin Grocers Association’s board of directors has selected Mike Semmann as the group’s new president CEO, replacing former leader Brandon Scholz.

Semmann was previously vice president of government affairs for the WGA, and Chair Bob Jaskolski said he was chosen for his “strategic insight, his track record of innovation and operational excellence, and advocacy leadership.”

Before joining the association, Semmann was a senior account executive at the data analytics firm SAS and chief operating officer for the Wisconsin Bankers Association. He also co-founded a group called Advancing AI Wisconsin.

In a statement, he said he’s “honored and humbled” to lead the trade association.

See the release, and listen to an earlier podcast with Semmann.

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