In a surprising move, Wisconsin’s Libertarian Party is endorsing a proposal to allow the state’s electricity customers lease solar panels and other small renewable energy generators. The Clean Energy Choice Initiative is spearheaded by a local clean energy group, RENEW Wisconsin, and while the Libertarians are often find themselves at odds with environmentalists, they say this time is different.
“Most of us don’t trust the environmental movement because they’ve cried wolf forever and ever. There are all kinds of philosophical disagreements, but at the end of the day this was pretty much a no-brainer,” Paul Ehlers, state party chair, told Midwest Energy News.
Most energy customers cannot afford the installed cost of a brand-new renewable energy generator, like solar panels, to supply them with electricity, according to RENEW Wisconsin. These costs become more manageable when the equipment is owned by someone else — a third party can install a the system on the customer’s property and sell the energy to the customer. The Clean Energy Choice Initiative would clarify Wisconsin’s law to enable leasing and other types of third-party ownership for solar panels, wind turbines and other generators.
