About Us

      WIDRC was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2004. The group has taken on numerous topics over the years, from advanced renewable energy tariffs and distributed generator business models to anaerobic digesters and other CHP technologies.

      With each topic, WIDRC typically plays the roles of educator and facilitator, researching and disseminating information on a particular topic to group members and then providing a venue for subsequent conversation and discussion. Due to the changes in the energy landscape since PSC 119 was adopted in 2004, the group is currently working to identify improvements for the interconnection process. WIDRC held an interconnection forum in 2017 to bring together utilities and DG developers to discuss this particular subject.

      WIDRC is not focused on a particular topic within distributed generation, nor is it associated with a particular regulatory proceeding. Instead, the group acts in an advisory fashion in terms of policy and standards development. Although the PSCW is a member of WIDRC, it is a non-voting Advisory Member. This allows WIDRC to support DR technology growth while limiting potential conflicts of interest or influences from the political environment. Meanwhile, the PSCW can remain aware of stakeholder priorities and trends in the industry.

      WIDRC's members consist of Wisconsin's electric providers (including municipals and cooperatives), DR industry groups, installers/contractors/engineers, public interest groups, and Wisconsin's regulatory agencies. WIDRC members can be either a Supporting Member, with voting privileges, or an Advisory Member, without voting privileges. Supporting Members are required to pay annual dues ranging from $250 to $1,000 based on their organization's size; Advisory Members are not required to pay dues. The dues are used to support the group's operations.

      WIDRC is governed by a steering committee. The steering committee is made up of seven individuals, all of whom are required to be WI residents and Supporting Members of WIDRC. These individuals are elected by WIDRC's Supporting Members and serve a 2-year term. An executive committee is elected from among the steering committee members to manage WIDRC's operations.

       WIDRC members meet quarterly to continue dialogue about ongoing developments within the DR industry and to study various barriers. The group acts as a consensus organization that requires agreement from all supporting members before taking a public position. WIDRC initially had five working groups. These working groups investigated several issues related to their topic area including technical requirements, commercial requirements and business practices, siting, applied research and development and associated data collection, and education and communications. Information and findings from these working groups is disseminated through mediums such as white papers and presentations, and is publically available via WIDRC's website.

      These groups have recently been set aside to enable the entire group to focus on more general DR topics. In addition, WIDRC provides support to projects and donations toward conference sponsorships.