CUB Urges Bold Action on WPS Proposed Rate Hike

  • September 23, 2026
699 450 Tom Content
With affordability a top concern across the state, CUB is urging state regulators to be bold and tackle affordability when it considers Wisconsin Public Service’s proposal to raise prices for homeowners and renters in northeast Wisconsin by 15%. CUB submitted recommendations to the state Public Service Commission ahead of a public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay. WPS has higher power prices than most utilities in the Midwest. This year it asked to raise prices by $184 million for electricity customers over the next two years. In testimony provided to the PSC, CUB’s experts discussed the fact that affordability challenges are getting worse. In fact, 35% of Wisconsinites are struggling to make ends meet. CUB wants action to:
  • Roll back excessive profits. CUB’s proposal on profits would pare back the increases by more than $110 million.
  • Make shareholders, not customers. pay for $2 million in board of directors fees.
  • Don’t saddle customers with needless overruns for solar projects..
  • Require WPS  to help customers save money regularly by dramatically expanding programs that cut energy use when power prices are high or reliability concerns spike.
  • And remove the cap in the number of customers who can participate in the smart thermostat savings program that WPS recently launched.
Find out more: You can read all about the CUB team’s advocacy on our Active Cases page. On that page you’ll find links to submit a comment to the Public Service Commission, or to attend the Sept. 29 hearing by Zoom or in person in Milwaukee. WPS customers are encouraged to raise their voices in the coming weeks, before the public comment period expires on Oct. 5. Customers interested in speaking at a hearing or submitting a written public comment should express in their own words their concerns about the rate hike plan, and their challenges in this affordability moment. Following, at a glance, are key facts about the case:

18th Highest WPS’ residential electric rates, compared with 50 Midwest utilities in 11 states Source: EEI data, Brubaker and Associates

21% Increase in a typical residential customer’s bill from 2022-2026 Source: PSC Residential Electric Bill Comparison Tool

15% Increase WPS is seeking for residential customers in 2027-28 Source WPS rate case testimony

$208 / year Increase on a typical residential customer’s electric bill, by 2028 Source: Wis. Public Service bill insert

6 Number of years in a row WPS will have increased rates Sources: WPS, SEC

$184 million Amount WPS wants to increase electric rates by over the next 2 years Source: PSC staff testimony by Eric Griffin

35% Percent of Wisconsin households struggling to make ends meet and pay their bills – both low- and moderate income households Source: Corey Singletary testimony, Wisconsin | UnitedForALICE

14,700 Number of households WPS disconnected in 2024.

Source: EIA Disconnections Report

$7 billion / year The amount paid by utility customers across the USA to support excess utility profits

Source: Werner, K. D, & Jarvis, S. (2025). Rate of Return Regulation Revisited. UC Berkeley: Energy Institute at Haas. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80m5j9vs

$ 1 billion

Profit reported by WPS from 2022-26, while customers’ bills rose 21% Source: WPS annual reports filed with PSC

184%

WEC Energy Group’s total shareholder return since 2015, with returns nearly tripling during that decade. WEC says its returns outperformed other US utilities.

Source: WEC Energy Group 2025 Annual Report

$110 million + Amount customers would save by paring back WPS’ return on equity over the next 2 years to CUB’s recommended level, 9.1%

Source: Steve Kihm testimony

$2 million Amount Wis. Public Service wants customers to pay in 2027-28 for its Board of Directors Source: Jeff Adams testimony

   
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