§ 196.31 — Intervenor financing.

Wisconsin § 196.31

• Jurisdiction: Wisconsin
• Ch. 196: Regulation of public utilities

Text

196.31
196.31(1) (1) Except as provided in sub. (2m) , in any proceeding before the commission, the commission shall compensate any participant in the proceeding who is not a public utility, for some or all of the reasonable costs of participation in the proceeding if the commission finds that:
196.31(1)(a) (a) The participation is necessary to provide for the record an adequate presentation of a significant position in which the participant has a substantial interest, and that an adequate presentation would not occur without a grant of compensation; or
196.31(1)(b) (b) The participation has provided a significant contribution to the record and has caused a significant financial hardship to the participant.
196.31(1m) (1m) The commission shall compensate any consumer group or consumer representative for all reasonable costs of participating in a hearing under s. 196.198 .
196.31(2) (2) Compensation granted under this section shall be paid from the appropriation under s. 20.155 (1) (j) and shall be assessed under s. 196.85 (1) , except that, if the commission finds that the participation for which compensation is granted relates more to a general issue of utility regulation rather than to an issue arising from a single proceeding, the cost of the compensation may be assessed under s. 196.85 (2) . Any payment by a public utility for compensation under this section assessed under s. 196.85 (1) or (2) shall be credited to the appropriation under s. 20.155 (1) (j) .
196.31(2m) (2m) The commission may grant no more than $100,000 annually in compensation under this section to the consumer advocate, as defined in s. 196.315 (2) (a) .
196.31(3) (3) The commission shall adopt rules to implement this section.

Legislative History

196.31 History History: 1983 a. 27 ; 1985 a. 297 ; 1989 a. 56 s. 259 ; 1993 a. 496 ; 1999 a. 9 ; 2009 a. 383 ; 2011 a. 22 , 32 ; 2021 a. 24 .