But now, the Madison utility wants to make significant changes in its rate structure based, in part, on concerns over the proliferation of solar energy.

MGE’s initial proposal, introduced June 2, would have increased the standard monthly charge for all residential customers from the current $10.50 a month to $22 a month in 2015, $48 in 2016, and $67 by 2017 — not counting the kilowatt-hour cost based on the amount of electricity used.

The new monthly charge would cover operational costs such as billing, customer service and repair crews, as well as a grid charge — the cost of generating power and sending it to the customer’s home, currently figured into the kilowatt-hour charge.

“Those are costs that do not change, no matter how much energy is used,” senior vice president Scott Neitzel said.

Under the proposal, the kilowatt-hour charge would have dropped from 14 cents in the winter to 3 cents, and from 15 cents in the summer to 4.5 cents by 2017.

Jim Lazar, economist and senior adviser for the Regulatory Assistance Project, a global nonprofit focused on energy, called the proposal “the most extreme I have seen anywhere in the world.”