The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) slipped a secret earmark into the last stage of the budget process giving them a free $300,000 giveaway per year.

CUB claims to represent utility ratepayer.  But, in the dark of night, they tried to grab $300,000 of ratepayer dollars to pad their own budget while ratepayers struggle to pay their bills.

CUB already has access to $750,000 of ratepayer money to reimburse them for the cost of legal challenges to utilities, challenges that ratepayers also have to pay to defend on behalf of investors and in fairness to ratepayers.

Money grabs, pork and late-night earmarks do not paint a glamorous picture of an organization that talks about open government and claims to be a fiscal watchdog.

WUI will continue to be a watchdog on CUB’s spending and activities.  We will continue to drag them into the light of day and fight to stop their grabs of money and power.

Congratulations to WUI Members who responded to our PowerLines Alert and contacted the Governor’s Office within the two days we had to convince the Governor to veto the CUB money grab.

Thank you to Governor Doyle for listening to Wisconsin citizens and ratepayers over a Madison special-interest group at the public trough.

Here is the story from Channel 3000:

Tom Still, of the Wisconsin Technology Council, has written a great piece on the benefits of lifting Wisconsin’s nuclear moratorium.

So, why does the state of Wisconsin cling to its outdated moratorium on building new generation plants?

Increasingly, the reasons for maintaining Wisconsin’s Three Mile Island-era moratorium don’t make sense. If you believe global climate change is the single largest environmental threat to the planet, you should embrace energy sources that don’t emit greenhouse gases. If you believe there will be millions of new plug-in hybrid vehicles, all getting recharged while idle, you should want power sources that can reliably handle the load without generating more carbon.

Of course, solar and wind power will be a part of the answer, but those alternatives can’t measure up to nuclear energy when it comes to steady and massive production of electricity. Today, those alternatives account for about 2 percent of electricity generation.

Still wisely points out how environmentally safe and beneficial nuclear power can be.  Wisconsin’s opposition to nuclear energy is outdated, with only 2 active facilities in the state, its time we change course.

A story out of Iowa reports on how the proposed cap and trade legislation could impact energy bills in the Midwest.

It’s supposed to be good for the environment, but some say it could cause a big hike in your energy bills. The American Clean Energy Act is designed to reduce green house gas emissions by creating a national limit or cap.

It would allow companies to buy, sell or trade their emission credits. However, Iowa energy companies say you’re the one who will pay.

“We don’t think that’s fair for customers. Whenever we see something like that that would adversely affect customers we are very aggressive,” says Dean Crist of MidAmerican Energy.

Iowa energy companies say the cap and trade system is unfair for providers in Iowa because of how we make our energy.

“The way the allotment is set up right now it harms utilities in the upper Midwest, like those that heavily rely on coal,” says Scott Drzycimski of Alliant Energy.

Coal causes more pollution than other kinds of energy. MidAmerican says they would reach the cap at 50 percent of their output, requiring them to buy $280 million dollars in credits.

Wisconsin, like Iowa, is extremely reliant on coal for energy generation.  In Wisconsin, over two-thirds of the power plants are fueled by coal.  Cap and Trade could prove detrimental to a state not only  reliant on coal, but an economy with a heavy manufacturing base.

Madison Gas & Electric has issued its June report which includes some staggering company facts, including:

• Raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years.
• One of just 97 companies to raise its dividend for 30 or more years.
• Paid dividends for 100 years in a row.
• Through the end of 2008 , the company has paid a total of $647 million in dividends since 1909.

These are some assuring facts in a troubled economy for utility industry investors.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has approved a power line being proposed by American Transmission Company (ATC).

State regulators say they agree with American Transmission Co. that Dane County needs more electricity to make sure there’s enough power coming through to keep the lights on in coming years.

The three-member Public Service Commission on Thursday gave unanimous preliminary approval to ATC’s plan to build a 32-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line across the county, from west of Middleton to the town of Christiana. The line will skirt the Beltline, rather than meander through the rural western and southern parts of the county, and it will be built entirely above ground.

This line will address the critical energy needs for an expanding Dane County.  Upgrading Wisconsin’s transmission infrastructure is critical to meeting our future energy needs and maintaining profitability for our electric utilities. Four of Wisconsin’s five investor-owned utilities share a major ownership interest in ATC.  Their success is vital to WUI members and to Wisconsin.