| FOR RELEASE
October 7, 1999
Reliability 2000 Approved in Legislature's
Budget
Last night the Wisconsin legislature passed the budget bill, including
Reliability 2000. R2K is a groundbreaking piece of legislation first
proposed by the governor and strongly supported by the Customers
First! Coalition.
It includes:
- transmission divestiture which would create the first TransCo
in the country
- all eastern Wisconsin utilities in the Midwest ISO
- PSC duty to insure reliability investments
- transmission-project impact fees
- asset-cap relief
- renewable portfolio standard
- market-based pricing and contract options for retail customers
- market-power study by an independent consultant
- successor language for utility workers
- an increased commitment to public benefits (energy conservation
& efficiency and low-income weatherization & bill assistance)
- fair-competition protections for realtors and developers
R2K includes many of the elements in the White Paper on industry restructuring
published by Customers First nearly a year ago.
Customers First is a broad coalition of customer groups, small
businesses, municipal electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives,
labor and environmental organizations, and an investor-owned utility.
The coalition supports change in the electric industry which will
benefit all Wisconsin customers, create real competition, and, above
all, insure the reliability of the system.
Contact: Lee Cullen, Attorney for Customers First
608.251.0101 or cullen@cwpb.com
Dave Benforado, Executive Director, Municipal Electric Utilities
of Wisconsin
608.837.2263 or ben4ado@mailbag.com
Nicole Anderson, Project Manager for Customers First
608.251.0101 or anderson@cwpb.com
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