Five ALEC members (Senator Glenn Grothman, Representative Dan LeMahieu, Representative Stephen Nass, Representative Michael Schraa, and Representative Tom Larson) sponsored SB 47, which would eliminate the state RES by freezing it at 2011 levels.

Another anti-RES bill, AB 34, would have allowed utilities to meet the renewable energy standards with nuclear energy and eliminated the 4-year time period for using credits to comply with such standards.

Four of the 10 sponsors of AB 34 were members of ALEC: Representatives Andre Jacque, Daniel LeMahieu, Jeffrey Stone, and Michael Schraa.

Sen. Grothman was profiled by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) for his attacks on RES (and his attacks on Kwanzaa). CMD’s Brendan Fischer predicted the attack in Wisconsin: “…once the ALEC-inspired bill is introduced, the right-wing infrastructure will spring into action. Beacon Hill will publish a study claiming that Wisconsin’s renewable standards lead to higher energy costs (perhaps commissioned by one of the State Policy Network affiliates in the state, such as the MacIver Institute or the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute).”

Wisconsin Policy Research Institute published a flawed Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) report just days after CMD’s post. And, an op-ed by one of the report’s authors, BHI’s Paul Bachman, amplified the report but was rebutted by local clean energy advocate, Michael Vickman, Policy Director of RENEW Wisconsin.