Transcript Legislative Update by Hamilton Consulting

Andy Engel and Andy Cook
The Hamilton Consulting Group
Hamilton-consulting.com
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Regulation of Dams
◦ Imposes new regulations on dams regulated by the
State.
◦ Did not exempt dams that are regulated by the
federal government
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Great Lakes Compact Water Fees
◦ Adds new water fees for entities that withdraw
water from the Great Lakes Basin
◦ Budget gives DNR new authority to impose fees
based on the amount of water withdrawn, but
contained no restrictions.
◦ Working to amend budget to include caps on fees.
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Joint and several liability
◦ Current law provides that co-defendants that are
51% or more at fault can be held 100% liable for
plaintiff’s damages.
◦ Budget provision would allow a co-defendant as
little as 1% at fault to be 100% liable for damages.
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Advising jurors
◦ The court must inform the jury how the jury’s findings
on fault affect responsibility for damages.
◦ Existing law limits a jury’s duty to fact finding,
consistent with over a hundred-year rule of
jurisprudence.
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Combined fault
◦ A person or business that is less at fault than the
plaintiff can be sued so long as the “combined” fault
of all persons sued is equal or greater than the
plaintiff.
◦ Existing law requires the plaintiff to be less at fault
than each defendant he or she is suing.
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Issued Final Report in July 2008
232-pages with over 50 policy
recommendations
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Recommends a regional or federal cap-andtrade policy.
Recommends that any cap-and-trade policy
should mitigate impacts to Wisconsin’s
economy.
Does not provide any specific
recommendations for a cap.
Suggests that threshold for inclusion would
be annual emissions of 25,000 metric tons of
CO2.
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Allowances (Credits)
◦ Recommends a transition period of 10 years where
90% of credits would be allocated at a fix cost of $2
per credit.
◦ Recommended that CO2 emissions from biomass
facilities should not require allowances for all or a
portion of the transition period.
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Recommends moving the current 10% RPS
requirement from 2015 to 2013.
20% by 2020
25% by 2025
Biomass
◦ Recommends expanding definition of “renewable”
to include thermal portion of Wisconsin cogeneration plants fired with biomass.
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Current law requires utilities to spend 1.2% of
annual operating revenues for energy
efficiency and renewable resource programs.
Task Force recommends changing program
from the current spending cap to a “savings
goal.”
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Recommends establishing a given energy
savings goal and then funding the program
based on that goal.
Recommends an annual 2% reduction of
electrical load (current program achieves
roughly a .4 to .5% annual reduction in
electrical usage).
Final Report predicts costs would increase to
$285 million by 2012 (up from roughly $150
million in 2009).
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Web site links:
http://dnr.wi.gov/environmentprotect/gtfgw/
(Wisconsin’s Strategy for Reducing Global Warming)
http://www.hamilton-consulting.com/pdf/09jan_climatechange-cook.pdf
(Energy and Climate Change Policy in Wisconsin and the U.S.)
http://www.hamilton-consulting.com/tidbits/index.html
(Political Tidbits – Hamilton Consulting Group’s)
◦ Six states/one Canadian province – Wisconsin,
Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,
Manitoba
◦ 15% to 20% reduction from 2005 CO2 levels by
2020
◦ 60% to 80% below 2005 levels by 2050.
◦ Cap-and-trade/Complementary Policies
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Support for regional cap-and-trade waning.
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Held last meeting this week.
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Submitting final recommendations as a
template for federal legislation.
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Waxman-Markey Bill (American Clean Energy
and Security Act)
◦ Federal cap-and-trade
◦ 17% below 2005 greenhouse gas levels by 2020.
◦ Will give away for free to electric utilities 35% of the
emissions permits (initially).
◦ Originally required electricity producers to generate
25% of their power from renewable sources by
2025.
◦ Now only 15% by 2020 with 5% coming from
improvements in energy efficiency.
◦ Gives EPA broad authority to regulate numerous
sectors that emit CO2 and other greenhouse
gases.
◦ Response to U.S. Supreme Court decision
Massachusetts v. EPA.
◦ Could be impetus to force Congress to pass
climate change legislation.
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On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson
told a Senate panel that the endangerment
finding “does not mean regulation.”
“Making the decision to regulate CO2 under
the Clean Air Act for the first time is likely to
have serious economic consequences for
regulated entities throughout the U.S.
economy, including small business and small
communities.”
◦ Office of Management and Budget
Andy Cook – [email protected]
Andy Engel – [email protected]
(608) 258-9506