Utilities rage as consumers save energy

From Josh Stolzenburg's perspective, maybe worse is better when it comes to electricity costs.

Stolzenburg installs solar panels and wood heating systems with his company, North Wind Renewable Energy of Stevens Point. He said business has been growing steadily for years, but that people's sense of outrage at their utility companies has seemed to spike only recently.

I talked with Stolzenburg and members of the environmentalist group Renew Wisconsin about the latest proposed rate increases facing Wisconsinites. The group focused on a proposal by Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service Corp., which affects many customers in central Wisconsin. But the trend Renew Wisconsin discussed is bigger than Wisconsin Public Service, and it applies to just about every utility company.

In short: They want to raise your rates, and they especially want to raise fixed rates — the base rate that customers pay regardless of how much electricity they use that month. That means, by design, the largest share of the increase will be paid by the people who live in energy-efficient homes and apartments. Under the Wisconsin Public Service proposal, in fact, fixed rates would go up $6 but costs per kilowatt hour would come down somewhat, meaning the biggest residential users — you with the aquariums in your basement and the space heater running in your office — may actually see their total energy bills come down.

From the power company's point of view, the important thing is to increase the share of utility bills that every customer pays, and to decrease the relative share that's based on what we actually use.

This, of course, makes no sense. When I go to the grocery store, I don't pay $10 for groceries whether or not I buy any. I pay for the milk and eggs and hamburgers I take home with me, thank you very much.

The utilities, which are heavily regulated because we want everyone to have access to power, say they are nothing like the grocery store. But these cost increases are a plain attempt by utilities to press their monopoly power to squeeze exactly those customers who use the least energy.

Stolzenburg's customers, those who get most of their home energy from solar, are quite obviously a threat to an electricity company's bottom line. Accordingly, the utilities in Wisconsin and across the nation have fought to increase fees for solar users.

But it's not just solar. Our home appliances are dramatically more energy efficient than they used to be, and new computer and wifi-enabled thermostats that are working their way into homes can adjust according to a homeowner's schedule and make energy-saving calibrations throughout the day.

This is all great stuff. Energy use burns fossil fuels and costs the consumer money. Energy efficiency is good for the planet and the pocketbook, which in turn is good for the rest of the economy.

But if your business is selling electricity to homes, it's a nightmare. And in Wisconsin, where the Public Service Commission is populated by political appointees, the utilities have a lot of political power.

Wisconsin Public Service already raised fixed rates by $8 a month as of Jan. 1 of this year. The new proposal, if approved by the state, would increase them another $6 a month. According to an online estimate, a typical solar installation saves consumers about $50 per month. Still worth it, from advocates' point of view — but a little less so with every fixed rate increase.

Is that enough to outrage Stolzenburg's customers so much that they'll go off the grid entirely? He's not counting on it. But it's yet another nudge in that direction. And that might be the way we're headed.

Robert Mentzer is storytelling coach and a columnist for Gannett Central Wisconsin Media. Contact: robert.mentzer@gannettwisconsin.com, 715-845-0604; on Twitter: @robertmentzer.