Wisconsin’s law on third-party ownership is unclear. We Energies challenged it by denying interconnection of 6 solar systems on City of Milwaukee roofs that would receive 80 percent financing from solar developer Eagle Point Solar(seeEnergyOnWI News, March 2019). Eagle Point Solar petitioned the PSC to open a docket to appeal the denial of their interconnection and to make a determination on third-party solar. The PSC agreed to the former but did not rule on whether Eagle Point is acting as a public utility or not.
Eagle Point has filed suit against the PSC and We energies in court to declare that its contract with the City of Milwaukee does not make it a utility and therefore, not subject to PSC regulation. Eagle Point challenged a similar incident in Illinois and prevailed five years ago (see Solar Energy Financing Guide). As a result of this pending issue, Focus on Energy is no longer funding any third-party financed renewable energy projects in the RECIP grant program. wsj, energywire