2025 ANNUAL REPORT
CREATING A FUTURE POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY THROUGH ADVOCACY, EDUCATION, AND COLLABORATION.
A Message From Our Executive Director
2025 was a year of honest reckoning and purposeful rebuilding for RENEW Wisconsin. We faced leadership changes and the kind of organizational stress that tests culture, systems, and mission clarity. We didn’t shy away from it. We confronted it directly.
Transitions like this can break an organization or refine it. We chose refinement.
We tightened operations, clarified roles, strengthened accountability, and returned to the fundamentals that built this organization: responsibility, transparency, and service to the people and communities of Wisconsin. The result is an organization that stands steadier today than it did a year ago — not because the year was easy, but because it was hard and we grew through it.
Our mission did not shift with leadership. Our north star remains clear: advancing a resilient, affordable, and homegrown clean-energy future for Wisconsin. And in a year marked by national policy uncertainty and local market pressures, we stayed at the table where it mattered and made sure our state’s clean-energy voice remained strong.
We strengthened our role in key regulatory dockets, improved collaboration across industry and utilities, expanded workforce and community partnerships, and delivered impactful programming that put real projects and support into Wisconsin communities. We welcomed new members and deepened ties with long-standing partners. Most importantly, we built internal strength to match the scale of our mission.
We didn’t gloss over tough moments. We used them. That’s what serious organizations do.
Stepping into the Year Ahead
The coming year will demand steady hands and clear thinking. Wisconsin is at an inflection point: grid modernization, distributed energy deployment, financing, and workforce shifts, all converging at once. These are challenges, yes. But they’re also opportunities for those willing to lead with stamina and conviction.
We are ready.
Our team is sharper. Our systems are stronger. Our vision is grounded in reality and anchored in service. We are prepared to meet uncertainty with discipline, collaboration, and a long-term focus, rather than reacting or being swayed by noise.
Thank you to our members, partners, board, and staff who stayed committed, gave honest counsel, and leaned in during a year of change. Loyalty, presence, and shared effort matter most when the ground moves beneath you, and this community showed up.
The year ahead is not something we fear; it’s something we welcome. With clarity and renewed strength, we are ready to build the next chapter of clean-energy leadership in Wisconsin together.
Onward, with steadiness and purpose.
Ismaeel Chartier
Executive Director
RENEW Wisconsin
OUR GREATEST HITS
DISTRIBUTED SOLAR
A lot happened in the distributed solar (think rooftop solar for your home or business) space this year. We may not have succeeded in enshrining net metering into state law at this point, but we did pursue all opportunities to support and protect net metering as it stands, as well as the solar industry. This year, we again saw utilities working to reduce solar buyback rates (the net metering formula), and again we fought against proposals in two cases through proceedings at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC). Ultimately, the PSC sided with us in one of those cases.
The RENEW policy team also participated in an opportunity to have input on the creation of parameters for a Value of Solar Study. We were glad we had a seat at the table for this effort, but the PSC decided this summer that their investigation into net metering didn’t require one. That might feel like a setback to some, but we expect there will be plenty of opportunities to engage with the PSC and provide input on the overall investigation. While we’ve been waiting to hear more on that front, we’ve continued to support the solar industry in other ways. Specifically, by helping our solar installer business members navigate customer interconnection (turning on solar installations) challenges through meetings, gathering data, investigating case examples, and even meeting with utilities to find solutions.
Looking ahead to the new year, RENEW expects to hear more on the net metering investigation and may even see some movement on net metering legislation—more on that down below. The RENEW policy team will, as always, keep a close eye on PSC developments, and we will do our best to keep you informed. If you, like us, think this work is not just important, but necessary, please consider a donation of any size to help keep the work going!
UTILITY-SCALE CLEAN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
This year, we asked you to join us in supporting four utility-scale solar projects and one utility-scale wind project. These projects include Badger Hollow Wind, Whitewater Solar, Emerald Bluffs Solar Park, Porchlight Solar, and Akron Solar. Collectively, these projects will produce 871 Megawatts of energy once constructed! Of these projects, the PSC has already approved three, and we saw two other projects approved this year thanks to our efforts in 2024.
Our policy team, consisting of Andrew Kell (Policy Director), Sherif Halaweish (Staff Attorney), and Ben Behlke (Clean Technology and Programs Manager), has worked tirelessly this year to make it all happen. We also saw the completion of yet another utility-scale solar project this year. Darien Solar Energy Center added 250 MW of new solar with 75 MW of battery storage. If all goes as planned, a second project, Apple River Solar, will go into service just before the year ends, adding 100 MW to our numbers. In all, Wisconsin now has 2,089 MW of utility-scale solar power and 809 MW of utility-scale wind power for a total of 2,898 MW of clean energy powering our great state! If and when all the projects currently approved by the PSC are completed, we can expect that number to reach nearly 6,000 MW over the next few years.
THE MEANING BEHIND (some of) THE NUMBERS:
- Darien Solar (Project completed in March 2025)
- Produced enough energy this year to power 46,000 homes and reduce our energy-related CO2 emissions by 740 million pounds
- Projects approved by the PSC in 2025
- These projects (once completed) are expected to power 187,000 homes and reduce our energy-related CO2 emissions by 3 billion+ pounds annually
LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS
Beata Wierzba, our Government Affairs Director, has been hard at work trying to get traction with two bills that would directly benefit the solar industry. This year we Reintroduced a community solar bill with significant changes to accommodate utility objections, all in the name of working to find compromise while still creating a viable program for Wisconsin.
Efforts on this front have included landowner-lawmaker visits throughout the state, many informational sessions, and significant outreach to groups and organizations, the coalition working in support of the issue grew and intensified. We had a hearing early this December and are hopeful that we can get this legislation passed before the end of the session early next year. Beata has done incredible work as part of a broad coalition working collectively against extreme headwinds.
We’ve also long prioritized protections for net metering, as well as creating a standardized net metering provision in state statute. Current regulations vary by utility and are threatened with changes, having some minimum requirements set would help the industry thrive. A legislative proposal is in the works to do just that. This proposal would require an agreement with each impacted utility, guarantee interconnection and credit for generation as well as carry over of unused credits until they expire at the end of March each year. Each system’s size would be limited to 30 kW for residential and 500 kW for commercial without counting battery storage capacity.
In both these cases, much is dependent on the outcome of the legislative session, but progress is being made on behalf of the industry.
LOCAL RESTRICTIONS ON DER
Over the past year, RENEW’s staff attorney, Sherif Halaweish, has expanded our capacity to identify and respond to local barriers to distributed renewable energy (rooftop solar as an example), with a particular focus on identifying and addressing county and town drafting of restrictive local ordinances. He also addressed restrictive aesthetic rules enforced by Home Owner Associations (HOAs) that went beyond the authority given to HOAs under state law. Together, this local and HOA-focused work is helping RENEW build a practical toolkit that RENEW can deploy statewide to defend solar rights and promote uniform, lawful treatment of distributed renewable energy. If you see Sherif out and about, be sure to buy him a coffee or at least say thank you.
SOLAR FOR GOOD AND MADISUN PROGRAM
The MadiSUN Backyard Grant Program, the MadiSUN Group Buy, and the Solar for Good programs all had a stellar year. The MadiSUN Backyard Program awarded three organizations $10,000 each to support their respective solar projects. The MadiSUN Group Buy reached capacity by August, with about 30 participants. This showed us that there is still strong community interest in solar power. Since its inception in 2018, the MadiSUN program has helped 49 different organizations install a total of 2571 kilowatts of solar!
We further supported solar power development through the Solar for Good program, which is now in its ninth year, thanks to the generosity of the Couillard Solar Foundation. This year alone, 25 nonprofits received grants from the Couillard Solar Foundation. The grants totaled more than $250,000 in value and helped to spur nearly $4 million in renewable energy investments. When completed, the projects will produce more than 1.3 Megawatts for nonprofits across the state. Since 2017, Solar for Good has awarded more than $3 million in grants, supporting more than $30 million in solar for 242 nonprofits.
These programs highlight how RENEW directly supports the implementation of solar projects across Wisconsin and delivers tangible clean energy benefits within our communities. In 2026, we’ll be more involved than ever, as RENEW will be taking over the Solar for Good program in its entirety, along with Solar on Schools. This change will allow us to more directly influence how the programs are operated and directly raise funds to support these programs. If you want to help nonprofits, churches, libraries, schools, and the like save on their energy bills through solar, help us get a head start on 2026 and donate to RENEW today to support these programs!
AND ONE OTHER THING (OR TWO)
MULTIFAMILY METERING
A major win this year was the Public Service Commission’s approval of the new multifamily metering rule. The change will make it easier for developers and renters alike to benefit from clean energy (solar) as well as energy-efficient building design and appliances. This effort took significant collaboration early in the year among RENEW Wisconsin and multiple partners across the state. The rule had been in limbo for months while under committee review, but ultimately advanced successfully. This update modernizes outdated regulations and creates an important foundation for future growth in multifamily housing, energy efficiency, and renewable-ready design in Wisconsin.
AGRIVOLTAICS
In August, RENEW released our report that summarizes the ongoing global and local research efforts on agrivoltaics and provides information as well as policy recommendations on how agrivoltaics can play a role in Wisconsin’s clean energy planning and policies. One of the main takeaways from the report is that agrivoltaics is still very much in a research and development phase for Wisconsin, the Midwest, and the United States as a whole. We look forward to working with the industry to develop the best approach to implementation of this creative energy solution.
That’s a wrap for our efforts in 2025! We came, we saw, we got closer to our renewable energy goals, but as they say, this isn’t an ending, it’s just the beginning. We’re excited to see what we can accomplish together in the coming year, and we hope you’ll keep moving forward with us!
2025 BY THE NUMBERS
Utility-Scale Clean Energy Produced Yearly (in MWh)
Yearly Avoided CO2 Emissions (pounds)
Homes Powered
business members
supporters
speaking engagements
people reached through speaking engagements
households signed up for solar through the MadiSun Group Buy
MadiSun Solar grants awarded
Solar for Good grants awarded
MW of Solar for Good projects awarded
*Figures used for energy production and emission reductions in this report are based on figures from the Energy Information Administration, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and Environmental Protection Agency.
FINANCIALS
Admittedly, we ran a bit of a deficit in our previous fiscal year, ending on June 30, 2025. Looking ahead, we’re optimistic that our finances are trending in a better direction for the current fiscal year. To help ensure that we land in a good spot by June 30, 2026, we need support from the people and members of the industry who want to create a future where everyone benefits from renewable energy. Our funding is what brings our mission to life.
In 2025, we’ve already defended rooftop solar, helped nonprofits reduce their energy bills through solar power, supported the development of many renewable energy projects, and fought for legislation that will bring to benefits of renewables to every corner of the state. As we enter 2026, we hope to do all that and more with your support!