The Sconi

Americans for Prosperity - Wisconsin have joined several groups in opposing SB 481 as they argue that if passed, the bill would lead to rate hikes and high energy costs that would further burden Wisconsin families and small businesses. The bill, which made it out of committee last week, is expected to be voted on this week and has spurred on a grassroots campaign opposing the bill spearheaded by AFP.

The Wisconsin Legislature defines SB 481 as a grant to an incumbent transmission facility owner the right to construct, own, and maintain a transmission facility approved for construction in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's (MISO) transmission plan. This transmission plan connects to facilities owned by that incumbent transmission facility owner where this incumbent owner is defined as "a transmission company or a cooperative or public utility that owns a transmission facility and provides transmission service in this state," said the Wisconsin Legislature.

AFP argues that this means any company not already providing services in the state would be prevented from competing to construct new utility lines. This constitutes "monopoly control" over electric utilities and eliminates competition leading to increased costs for Wisconsin's businesses and families, according to AFP. They assert that without competition unnecessary additional costs will be passed onto utility customers.

The bill was introduced last month by Republican State Sens. Julian Bradley, Howard Marklein, and Van Wanngaard. Cosponsors were Republican Reps. Kevin Petersen, Jeffrey Mursau, Jerry O'Connor, David Steffen, and Chuck Wichgers.

A report from the Center Square notes that Wisconsin's residential electricity rates consistently rank 2nd highest in the Midwest and top 15 nationally. The Public Service Commission is already weighing rate hike requests from Wisconsin's utility companies with only one company requesting a rate decrease; however PSC approved hikes last year according to The Center Square report.

In previous legislative sessions similar bills have been proposed but never made it out of committee reported by The Wisconsin State Journal. Several consumer advocacy groups including Americans for Prosperity opposed these bills.

The Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin (CUB) opposes SB 481 because they believe it would highly favor the American Transmission Company (ATC), effectively limiting competition for ATC from other transmission companies. "SB 481 would block the opportunity for competitive bidding as remove that as an option to save money for customers," said CUB Executive Director Tom Content to WUWM.

WPR reports that Clean Wisconsin and the AARP join CUB and AFP in opposition to the bill.