WPS Rate Hike for 2027 and 2028

  • April 18, 2026
870 450 Tom Content

, rates

WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE RATE CASE HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

On April 1, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. (WPS) filed an application to change electric rates in 2027 and 2028.

WPS is seeking total increases of $165 million over the next two years (2027-28) for its electric and natural gas utilities. This case comes after WPS customers already saw double-digit hikes phased in over the last four years. Find out more about the last case here.

CUB will be actively involved in the case, searching for savings and opportunities to pare back the size of the increase. Here are some key facts about the utility’s proposal in this case:

In PSC case 6690-UR-129, WPS is requesting:

Electricity bills
Requested electricity hike for 2027: $86.1 million, or 6.3%
Requested electricity hike for 2028: $50.8 million, or 3.5% on top of the requested 2027 increase
Total requested increase for 2027-28: $136.9 million, 10% above current prices

Residential impact for 465,000 customers in northeastern and north central Wisconsin: phased in over two years. 10.1% increase in 2027, total increase of 14.7% by January 2028. See WPS bill insert here.

For a typical customer using 660 kWh per month: $118 bill today would rise by $11 in 2027 and $5 to in 2028, for a total bill of $134 and a total increase of $16 per month by 2028. That translates to an increase of $192 per year, by 2028.

Natural Gas bills

WPS natural gas increase for 2027: $21.7 million

WPS natural gas increase for 2028: $6.5 million 

Total increase for natural gas: $28.2 million

WPS has 344,000 residential natural gas customers in northeastern and central Wisconsin.

 

IMPACT OF DATA CENTERS on THIS CASE

  • WPS’ rate case was filed while the big case involving how data centers will pay for their We Energies energy needs is still proceeding. 
  • As it stands now, We Energies are proposing to work with American Transmission Co. to implement a key fix for a big loophole in the We Energies data centers case that would leave customers of WPS at risk for paying for big power line projects that are for data center customers of other utilities, namely We energies and Alliant Energy. Customers in Madison and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are also at risk of paying for about $2 billion in costs for big overhead transmission lines.
  • CUB is reviewing proposals by We Energies and ATC, to ensure the transmission the tech companies will pay their own way for the network upgrades needed for data centers.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE ELECTRIC INCREASE?

  • New power plants being proposed, higher profit, higher transmission charges, and inflation.

SPOTLIGHT ON PROFIT

 

 

  • CUB urges the PSC to go further than it has in the past to reduce profits, particularly in tihs affordability moment. CUB Chief Economist Steve Kihm is proposing to reduce the return on equity to 9.1%, whereas the utility wants to increase its return to 9.9%. CUB’s proposal would save $54 million in 2027 and $57 million in 2028, for a total of $111 million in savings projected.
  • In 2024, the PSC declined to reduce profits for WPS in the last case. CUB’s advocacy in the last case would have saved $36 million over two years.
  • In the new proposal, the utility wants to hike its return on equity back to 9.9%. WPS also seeks a “capital structure” change that would allow it to profit more than it does already — by allowing a greater portion of its spending to capture those returns.
  • Wisconsin investor-owned utilities already get the fifth highest profit rates in the country, forcing customers to shoulder energy bills that are too high.
  • The parent company of WPS, WEC Energy Group, reported total profit of more than $1.6 billion in 2025. The majority of the multi-state utility company’s profits come from its Wisconsin utilities.

AFFORDABILITY IS JOB ONE

  • CUB is concerned that utility customers of WPS are paying among the highest rates in the Midwest. A new analysis ranks WPS 18th highest, and WPS’ sister utility, We Energies, the third highest utility among nearly 50 utilities across 11 Midwest zfFsz.
  • Typical customers’ bills have more than doubled over the past 25 years, at a rate faster than inflation. Meanwhile, income and wealth disparities between the wealthiest Wisconsinites and everyone else continue to grow.
  • Shareholders of WPS’ parent company, WEC Energy Group, have done exceedingly well during that time, with gains for WEC outperforming other utilities by a wide, wide margin.
  • An alarming 24% of Wisconsinites are moderate income, or working poor, making not quite enough to get by and struggling. Another 11% are low income, according to CUB’s analysis.

WHAT DOES CUB WANT CHANGED?

OUR SIX BIG ASKS:

  1. Reduce profit rate (return on equity) to 9.1% and require electric utility to tap low-cost debt. Savings to customers: $54 million in the first year, 2027. $57 million in 2028. Total projected savings: $111 million.
  2. Disallow cost overruns for the Koskonong Solar Project. Projected savings: $42 million.
  3. Require shareholders, not customers, to pay for WEC Energy Group Board of Directors fees. Projected savings; nearly $2 million
  4. Require customers to pay fewer association dues for We Energies. Projected savings: $0.77 million.
  5. Require WPS to implement more demand response programs to enable savings identified in a We Energies demand response potential study prepared this year.
  6. Divvy up the pie fairly among data centers, large manufacturers and residential and small business customers

 

 

EXPECTED TIMELINE

  • April 1: Application filed in PSC Docket 6690-UR-129
  • April-August: PSC auditors, CUB and other groups ask questions of the utility
  • Aug. 14: PSC staff, CUB experts submit testimony to pare back the rate hike.
  • Likely in September: Hearing for utility, CUB, PSC staff, other groups
  • September/October:  Public Hearing for WPS customers to speak out. Typically the PSC holds a hearing in Green Bay that WPS customers can also comment at over Zoom. Subscribe to CUB Updates to stay in the loop.
  • Early to mid October: Last day to submit public comments on the case.
  • Likely in November: PSC Open Meeting where the three commissioners will discuss the rate case for the first time and make key decisions
  • Likely in December: PSC written Final Decision to be issued

FIND OUT MORE

  • See the filings in the case at the PSC here.
  • When the notice for the public hearing is issued, find it here.

HAVE YOUR SAY

When the public comment period opens, find the link to file a public comment here. Find out more about public participation in cases at the PSC website here.

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