What does Category 1, 20 kW or less require?

Insurance is $300,000 per occurrence and the cooperative is named as a certificate holder rather than an additional insured, with thirty days cancellation notice. Engineering review runs 10 working days and a distribution system study, if needed, another 10. An application fee is mandatory and payable before any review, and its amount is not published.

What does Category 2, above 20 kW to 200 kW require?

Insurance rises to $1,000,000 per occurrence and the cooperative must be named as an additional insured rather than a certificate holder, which is a meaningful difference. Engineering review runs 15 working days and a study another 15.

What does Category 3, above 200 kW to 1 MW require?

Insurance is $2,000,000 per occurrence. Engineering review runs 20 working days and a study another 20.

Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative distributed energy resources: tiers, fees and insurance

How the size is measured

the combined nameplate rating in AC kilowatts of all distributed energy resources at the facility. The document calls this quantity export capacity in alternating current, but read the definition carefully: it defines export capacity as the combined nameplate rating rather than as the amount actually permitted to flow. Under the definition as written, an export limited system does not get a lower category, so a 20 kW inverter limited to 5 kW of export does not land in Category 1.

Size bands and what each one obliges

Category 1, 20 kW or less Size 0 to 20 kW	Insurance is $300,000 per occurrence and the cooperative is named as a certificate holder rather than an additional insured, with thirty days cancellation notice. Engineering review runs 10 working days and a distribution system study, if needed, another 10. An application fee is mandatory and payable before any review, and its amount is not published. Application fee, amount not published, paid before review begins $300,000 per occurrence insurance with the cooperative as certificate holder Lockable interconnection disconnect switch shown on the one line
Category 2, above 20 kW to 200 kW Size 20.001 to 200 kW	Insurance rises to $1,000,000 per occurrence and the cooperative must be named as an additional insured rather than a certificate holder, which is a meaningful difference. Engineering review runs 15 working days and a study another 15. $1,000,000 per occurrence insurance with the cooperative as additional insured Engineering review estimate paid within 15 working days
Category 3, above 200 kW to 1 MW Size 200.001 to 1000 kW	Insurance is $2,000,000 per occurrence. Engineering review runs 20 working days and a study another 20. $2,000,000 per occurrence insurance with the cooperative as additional insured
Category 4, above 1 MW to 15 MW Size 1000.001 to 15000 kW	Insurance is negotiated. Engineering review runs 40 working days and a distribution system study 60 working days. Negotiated insurance Engineering review and study at the published working day intervals

The screens that decide it

Within the 15 MW scope Limit 15000 kW.
The requirements cover all facilities with a capacity of 15 MW or less.
No fifteen percent screen and no minimum load test exist here
The word screen does not appear anywhere in the requirements, confirmed by searching the full extracted text. Wisconsin cooperatives use a discretionary three step ladder instead: application review, then engineering review if the cooperative decides one is needed, then a distribution system study. That makes the outcome less predictable to pre screen than at Connexus or Cass County, and circuit headroom cannot be computed from the customer’s own data.

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

What is the application fee for this category? The requirements say the applicant shall pay the fees specified in a table that does not appear in the published document, and nothing is reviewed until the invoice is paid. The only dollar figure anywhere in the document is a pre application report fee of up to $300.
Does an export limited system qualify for a lower category? The defined term is export capacity but the definition is combined AC nameplate, so confirm in writing before relying on an export limit to reduce the category, the insurance and the fee.
What are the current renewable generation rates? The rate rider is published only as a scanned image with no readable text.

Worth knowing before you quote

Published clocks are in working days: completeness notice 10, application review 10 from completeness, engineering review 10 to 40 by category after payment, and a distribution system study 10 to 60 by category. There is a genuinely useful deemed approved clause: if the cooperative fails to respond within the time specified for a modification, the completed application is deemed approved. An approval memorandum expires after eighteen months. Batteries are inside the resource definition, must be shown on the one line with nameplate capacities, and require a battery emergency shutdown switch, but no separate non export track is published. Three costs to carry into the quote: a lockable interconnection disconnect switch at member expense, member responsibility for obtaining and paying for any easements or rights of way if a line extension is required, and a retest charged at the commissioning fee rate. The cooperative does not measure the energy the system produces, so the member gets no production data from the utility. Applications run through a portal. No consumption cap, transformer cap or aggregate program cap is published.

Source

Interconnection Requirements of Wisconsin Electric Cooperatives, Version 1.3 updated 11 September 2025 and effective 1 July 2025, adopted by Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative on 15 December 2025, with the associated agreement, application and technical requirements

Read and recorded 2026-09-12. Rural electric cooperative. A Wisconsin cooperative. This is a uniform document adopted by more than fifteen Wisconsin cooperatives, so the terms below are likely to answer for many Wisconsin territories. Adams-Columbia adopted it only on 15 December 2025, which is recent. Do not confuse this cooperative with Adams Electric Cooperative in Illinois, which has a different program.

All Wisconsin interconnection rules

Size bands and what each one obliges

The screens that decide it

Ask the utility this, before you sell it

Worth knowing before you quote

What to do with this