A lawmaker wants more scrutiny of state deals to pay more for electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported Thursday that major state agencies now get 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind farms but paid a premium for it of $1.4 million last year - 29 percent more than expected.

Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, sent a letter Monday asking Administration Secretary Michael Morgan for more details on the deals, including one in which the extra cost for the renewable energy was more than three times what it could have been.

"What is the rationale for paying $1.4 million more for electricity than we need to?" Davis wrote. "Wisconsin is in severe financial straits and facing a looming multi-billion dollar deficit."

An Administration Department spokeswoman couldn't be reached for comment. But supporters of the program say it fights climate change and creates local sources of energy and jobs in a state without fossil fuel deposits such as coal or oil.

The state bought the energy from three utilities: Madison Gas and Electric, Wisconsin Energy Corp. of Milwaukee, and WPPI Energy of Sun Prairie.

For the renewable energy from MG&E and Wisconsin Energy, the state is paying an extra 1 cent per kilowatt hour over the cost of electricity generated from coal or natural gas. But in a first for the state, the Doyle administration agreed in 2008 to buy at a fixed price for 20 years electricity made from renewable sources from WPPI Energy in the hopes that the state would save money as energy prices rise over time.

But since 2008 the sharp recession has caused energy prices to fall rather than rise. Last year, the premium on the renewable energy from WPPI cost the state an extra 3.3 cents per kilowatt hour, or more than three times as much as the premiums paid to MG&E and Wisconsin Energy.

Last year, the state bought 29 percent of its renewable energy from WPPI, while 48 percent comes from MGE and 23 percent comes from Wisconsin Energy.

In his letter, Davis noted that WPPI president and chief executive officer Roy Thilly also served as the chairman of Gov. Jim Doyle's Task Force on Global Warming, which issued its final recommendations on July 24, 2008 - about two weeks after it was announced that the utility won its share of the renewable energy deal.

Davis requested records detailing the awarding of the contract to WPPI saying taxpayers deserved to know how it was handled.