We Energies rate increase public hearings could focus on affordability and clean energy.
Proposed electricity rate hikes, hitting low-income households especially hard, are the subject of public hearings this week in Milwaukee and Racine.
For 2025, We Energies has sought a 9.2% rate increase for most residential customers, followed by an 8.5% increase in 2026. If the increases are approved by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the typical monthly residential electric bill would rise from around $128 to $152.
The Racine public hearings are Tuesday, 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Community Center Gym, 2221 Douglas Ave. The Milwaukee public hearings are Thursday, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., at the Drury Plaza Hotel, 700 N. Water St.
Participation by Zoom is available for both sets of hearings. People who can't make it to one of the Milwaukee or Racine hearings can submit a comment online anytime through Oct. 7.
We Energies has sought an additional $418.6 million from its customers over the next two years to cover rising costs associated with building new sources of power generation; grid improvements, inflation and labor.
It amplifies a two-decade trend in which residential electricity cost increases have risen at more than twice the rate of inflation since 2005, according to an analysis by Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit watchdog group.
“These proposed increases are outrageous and must be viewed in the light of (We Energies') authorized increases over the past few years,” Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic said in written testimony submitted to the commission.
Rate increases are especially hard on low-income families where energy costs can consume as much as 20% of a household budget, according to an analysis by the Sierra Club – Wisconsin Chapter.
Rate increase unsustainable, Bay View alder says
“This is not sustainable,” said Dimitrijevic, whose 14th Aldermanic District includes the Bay View neighborhood.
“The city is home to thousands of moderate and low-income residents who can least afford another We Energies rate increase and certainly not one of this magnitude,” she added.
Investments in renewable and clean energy have been the primary driver behind rate increases.
Looking at 2025 alone, 70% of the new revenue sought, or $167 million, is to begin payments for newly completed solar power projects and the purchase of a share of the generating capacity of Alliant Energy's West Riverside natural gas plant.
Bills are also coming due on We Energies' efforts to improve the electric grid's reliability and resilience to storm damage.
Burying power lines, more aggressive removal of dead and dying trees, and other improvements authorized by the commission in 2022 account for about $71 million of the new costs the utility has sought to recover.
We Energies says it needs to meet demand
We Energies said its financial needs reflect a commitment to meeting energy demand, maintaining a reliable electric grid, and the transition to renewable energy in order to avoid spending billions on pollution controls for burning coal, which it plans to stop using by 2032.
The utility industry is undergoing a vast amount of rapid change, at a time when customer affordability and the ability to make ends meet are already in the spotlight, according to Tom Content, executive director of Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board.
“The affordability challenge cries out for more balance between shareholders and customers, and close consideration of utility returns to shareholders and of stranded costs, which exist when power plants shut down before the end of their projected retirement dates and/or useful lives,” Content said in written testimony.
Environmental groups are expected to have a strong presence at this week's hearings.
Several groups have warned that powering a massive Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant with methane gas power plants would push Wisconsin backward in the quest for clean energy.
Environmental groups calls for clean energy
In an open letter to Microsoft, Sierra Club Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin, Action for the Climate Emergency and other groups called on the company to power its planned data center with local clean energy.
"Right now, We Energies is planning to meet energy demand for the Microsoft data center by spending billions of dollars to build new methane gas power plants and pipelines," the letter said.
"It's a massive buildout that will push our state's climate goals out of reach, locking us into 30 more years of fossil fuels at a time when we all know we must rapidly transition to clean energy," it said.
Microsoft's recently announced plan to help fund a 250-megawatt solar energy project in Wisconsin is a good start but would represent only a fraction of the data center's energy needs, according to the groups.
"There must be more. Other plans to buy out-of-state carbon credits to offset energy use in Wisconsin may technically meet your company's climate goals, but they do nothing to support the badly needed transformation to clean energy here in your new home," their letter says.
In addition to the public hearings in Milwaukee and Racine this week, the PSC has scheduled Oct. 10 hearings, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., at the Ashwaubenon Community Center, 900 Anderson Dr., Ashwaubenon.
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