One of the biggest trends in sustainable power nationally is solar and finance companies — rather than homeowners or businesses — paying the upfront cost for solar panels.

A bill just introduced in Madison aims to get Wisconsin on that bandwagon. The bill isn't going to pass but was introduced to get the conversation started on an issue that is strongly opposed by state utilities.

Republican Rep. Gary Tauchen (R-Bonduel), a co-sponsor with Democratic Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison), said the bill is needed to help boost construction of more waste-to-energy projects on Wisconsin farms.

At the Sustainability Summit in Milwaukee on Thursday, Gary Radloff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Energy Institute said waste-to-energy projects represent the state's best option to expand sustainable energy technologies.

"We should just get rid of waste from our vocabularies and say we'll reuse everything," he said.