PSC approves certificates for joint acquisition and construction of Good Oak and Grist Mill solar projects

The Public Service Commission voted March 19 to approve a joint application by Wisconsin Electric, Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas & Electric to acquire and construct two utility-scale solar projects — Good Oak and Grist Mill — subject to the conditions discussed in the hearing record.

Commissioner Hawkins (docket 5-CE-159) described the projects: Good Oak (about 98.4 megawatts, roughly $215.7 million excluding AFUDC, located in the town of Lewiston on about 800 acres) and Grist Mill (about 67 megawatts, roughly $144.9 million excluding AFUDC, located in the towns of Columbus and Fountain Prairie on about 400 acres). Hawkins said Webco (the project developer referenced in the record) plans to own 80% of both facilities, with Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas & Electric each proposing 10% ownership; he noted conditional use permits were obtained at the local level with no local opposition recorded in the transcript.

Hawkins walked commissioners through the statutory standard under Wis. Stat. §196.49(b) for certificates of authority, explaining the commission may deny certification if a proposed acquisition would substantially impair a utility’s efficiency, provide facilities unreasonably in excess of probable requirements, or add to cost of service without proportional value. Hawkins said staff and applicants submitted environmental assessments and that local siting authority applied because each project falls under the 100 MW threshold.

Commissioners discussed modeling issues (accreditation, wind and solar modeling assumptions, solar degradation) and encouraged staff to present clearer balance-sheet-style summaries of load needs, resource availability and the modeling sensitivities in future dockets. They also noted potential future optionality: the projects could accommodate storage additions later as needs evolve.

Commissioner Nieto pointed to comments from construction trades supporting order conditions relating to local workforce provisions; he also caught a drafting issue in order condition language tied to AFUDC: the AFUDC calculation should be based on the stated project capital costs ($215.7M for Good Oak and $144.9M for Grist Mill) rather than the smaller figures that had been drafted. Commissioners agreed to edit the order conditions for plurality and AFUDC language and to include workforce-related conditions 20g–20i in the order.

Commissioner Nieto moved to approve the joint acquisition and construction consistent with the discussion; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The approval applies to the certificate-of-authority decisions for each applicant in each project, with the staff-drafted order conditions to be finalized with the editorial and plurality corrections discussed on the record.