Wisconsin utilities now requesting $450 million in higher rates | By Todd Stuart – Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group

Madison –This week, Wisconsin Power and Light (6680-UR-125) Northern States Power – Wisconsin (4220-UR-127) and Madison Gas and Electric (3270-UR-126) filed base rate case applications totaling roughly $450 million in higher electric and natural gas utility rates over two years. The Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, Inc. (WIEG) called on the Public Service Commission to drastically reduce the rate hike requests as Wisconsin’s rates are already higher than the Midwest and national averages. Wisconsin’s electric rates have now exceeded the Midwest average for over 20 years.

“Wisconsin’s ratepayers simply can’t afford additional cost burdens. High electric rates are effectively a tax on all Wisconsin homeowners and businesses,” said Todd Stuart, executive director of WIEG. “Wisconsin’s electric rates have been well above the Midwest average for over twenty years and continue to be above the national average. The requested increases are two or three times the rate of expected inflation, a burden that consumers just cannot bear.”

WIEG is a non-profit association of 25 of Wisconsin’s largest energy consumers. The group has long advocated for policies that support affordable and reliable energy. Since the early 1970s, WIEG has been the premier voice of Wisconsin ratepayers and an engine for business retention and expansion. Each year its members collectively spend more than $400 million on electricity in Wisconsin. Most of these companies have electric bills of over $1 million each month, and it is one of their top costs of doing business.

“Our members, Wisconsin’s largest manufacturing companies, pay more for electricity than the average rates paid by their competitors in other Midwest states and above the national average,” Stuart said. “That’s a big cost disadvantage for our members as they pay well over $1 million a month for electricity.”

The cost disadvantage can easily add up to millions of dollars more paid annually in electric bills in Wisconsin versus similarly situated customers in the Midwest. Manufacturing currently employs nearly half a million people with above average wages across Wisconsin. Manufacturing provides $68 billion annually or roughly 20 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.

All the state’s investor-owned utilities have announced unprecedented levels of new capital plans over the next five to ten years. In addition, ATC’s latest 10-year capital expansion plan is double or even triple the capital expenditure plans of four years ago. Also, over 4,000 MW of fully dispatchable generation resources have been retired over the last decade leaving billions in “stranded assets.”

“Our member companies compete in world markets and electricity is one of their three greatest costs of doing business,” said Stuart. “The energy premium we pay for our factories in Wisconsin therefore acts as a large tax on our industries. 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.”

As an immediate step, lawmakers must reject renewed efforts to revive the transmission Right of First Refusal (“ROFR”) legislation (Assembly Bill 25 and Senate Bill 28). The ROFR legislation would remove competitive protections and would result in higher costs for consumers.

WPL’s rate case filing said that by the 2027 test year, WPL’s transmission expenses are expected to increase by $44 million, which represents approximately 21% of the utility’s total cumulative proposed rate increase in this case.

“WIEG’s board of directors remains unified in opposition to the transmission Right of First Refusal legislation,” said Todd Stuart, executive director of WIEG. “A ROFR law would only add costs for customers in Wisconsin and add additional rate pressure.”

Since 2019, the PSC has approved almost $2 billion in additional electric and natural gas rates for customers of investor-owned utilities. That includes roughly $550 million in additional electric and natural gas rates for 2025 and 2026. This week’s rate case filings would add $450 million to that total.

  For more information about WIEG, please visit: https://wieg.org

Todd Stuart is Executive Director, Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group.