Wisconsin's largest utility company requests more rate increases for next 2 years (2024)

Customers with Wisconsin’s largest utility company could face double-digit increases to their monthly bills over the next two years to cover costs associated with renewable energy projects, infrastructure and grid resiliency upgrades and other efforts.

WEC Energy Group, the parent company of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service Corp., which together serve more than half of the state’s electricity customers, filed the rate requests with the state Public Service Commission on Friday.

Under We Energies’ request, the average residential electric customer would see their monthly bill increase by $10 to $11 next year, followed by a $7 to $8 monthly increase in 2026. The Milwaukee-based utility serves about 1.1 million customers across the state, with the average residential electric customer currently paying about $122 a month.

Wisconsin Public Service Corp. has requested a roughly $10 to $12 monthly increase for residential electric customers starting next year. The requested increase for 2026 would raise rates by another $5 to $6 per month. The WEC subsidiary serves more than 460,000 electric customers and more than 340,000 natural gas customers in northern Wisconsin. The average residential customer currently pays about $97.70 per month.

Despite the increases, WEC officials say, residential electric customer’s rates will still remain below the national average of about $145 a month.

“We are doing all we can to keep bills as low as possible,” WEC spokesperson Brendan Conway said. “Whether that’s including every dollar of tax credits we can go out and get, whether it’s looking for creative ways to try to get low-interest funding loan programs … going out and advocating on behalf of our customers … all these things we can do before, during and after we file any rate filing.”

But Tom Content, executive director of the customer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, questioned why the utility is seeking more than $800 million in total increases to electric and natural gas rates after multiple years of rising customer bills.

“From the filing it appears that We Energies wants to have its cake and eat it too: They want to make money on all the new solar and natural gas plants they’re looking to build, and they want to keep profiting on coal plants long after they’re shut down,” Content said in a statement. “Saddling hundreds of millions of dollars of additional costs on customers who are already paying among the highest prices in the Midwest for electricity is something the Public Service Commission will need to evaluate very carefully.”

Utility officials note in the filings a significant portion of the rate increases are due to the company’s ongoing capital investment to the grid, including plans to spend more than $3 billion between 2024-27 on wind, solar and battery storage projects.

Conway said one of the biggest factors in the 2025 request relates to projects already approved by the PSC that are expected to go into service next year.

Grid resiliency

Another cost driver is grid resiliency. WEC experienced eight widespread severe weather outages in the last five years, compared with just six comparable events between 1976 and early 2019, according to filings. To address those concerns, the company has proposed additional efforts to bury power lines and cut down dead ash trees located near existing lines.

Increased costs associated with higher participation in low income forgiveness tools have also increased the company’s revenue deficiency, to the tune of $33.7 million, company officials say.

Todd Stuart, executive director of the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, said the nonprofit, which represents 25 of the state’s largest energy consumers, said the energy premium factories pay “acts as a large tax on our industries” and plans to oppose the proposed rate increases.

“If you want to move the needle on economic development and jobs, then getting rates under control should be at the top of the list,” Stuart said.

We Energies will provide more specific information on customer impacts in May. The three-member PSC is expected to decide on the rate requests later this year.

Content said he expects WEC’s final rate increases to fall “well below” the company’s original request.

The PSC in November approved an 8.4% increase to the average Alliant Energy residential customer’s bill. The agency also approved a 5.7% overall rate increase for Madison Gas and Electric.