MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee amended the state budget proposal to remove a cap on how much hydroelectric power utilities could use to meet the state's renewable energy mandate.

A law passed last year requires that 10 percent of Wisconsin's electricity come from renewable power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels by 2015.

The amendment would allow state utilities to import hydroelectric power from dams in Manitoba, using a new high-voltage transmission line that is under construction between Wausau and Duluth, Minnesota.

The change was approved by the committee on an 11-to-5 vote and will now be considered by the full Senate and Assembly.

It was suggested by the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation in Green Bay. Charlie Severance, the utility's manager of electric resources, says relaxing the rule makes sense because the price of wind-power projects has escalated so much in recent years.

But Keith Reopelle, program director for the conservation group Clean Wisconsin, says the plan to change state law could slow efforts to develop "homegrown" renewable energy.
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