Give solar energy a chance to compete

Since my retirement from playing football, I find myself missing the camaraderie that comes from being a part of a team, the structure that it provided in my life, and the competition of athletics. Working together for a common goal and having a great opportunity to reach individual potential is what always drew me into athletics and what I seek out in the next stage of my career.

Competition continues to be a big part of my life — from lettering in high school sports, to playing for the Badgers in two Rose Bowl Championships as a walk on, to my 11 years with the Green Bay Packers culminating in a 2011 Super Bowl victory. These days my focus is a little broader than the next play — my wife, Sarah, and I both have demanding professional lives and we have two small children. Life is busy, but competition is still there — driving professional goals and friendly rivalries.

Recently, we were invited by the local solar trade association to share our thoughts on rooftop solar and learn more about the billing proposals by three Wisconsin utilities. The more we learned, the more concerned we became.

We learned people have benefited from solar panel prices falling nearly 70 percent in five years, and no-money-down solar leases have driven hundreds of thousands of homeowners (in other states) to choose to generate a portion of their own power. And people want it — a recent bipartisan poll showed 93 percent of Wisconsinites believe they should have the right to put solar on their homes and pay for it however they choose.

But rather than embracing solar and letting it compete for consumer choice, our utilities are proposing billing changes that will favor business as usual, sending our dollars ($12 billion annually) out of state to import energy resources.

Just last month Fox News reported that people that choose solar on their home are seeing “up to an 80 percent reduction in energy costs.” Plus, with solar leasing, you set a fixed 20-year rate. By contrast, Wisconsin’s energy prices keep increasing at more than double the rate of inflation.

Sarah and I want to look out for our family’s future — having the freedom to choose solar makes sense for us, and we feel it makes sense for Wisconsin. Just think what we could do if next year, only a portion of the $12 billion sent out of state for energy could be kept here in Wisconsin. Today, just 0.02 percent of Wisconsin’s electricity comes from solar — let’s grow that number to 1 percent. Amazingly, this simple, fair, and conservative change would create thousands of jobs in Wisconsin’s solar industry.

Let’s have the discussion — in a way, let’s give solar a shot at being a walk-on to Wisconsin’s energy team.

We respect competition and the ability to make an informed decision. Our utilities are pushing billing proposals that would restrict our freedom to choose solar and stifle economic growth. Sarah and I have joined more than 1,000 Wisconsinites asking state officials to give Wisconsin solar energy a chance to compete. Go to www.bit.ly/solarchoice.

Mark Tauscher of Sun Prairie is a former tackle of the Green Bay Packers.