In April 2026, We Energies filed an application to change electric rates and natural gas charges in 2027 and 2028.
We Energies is seeking total increases of $480 million over the next two years for its electric and natural gas utilities. This case comes after We Energies customers already saw double-digit hikes phased in over 2023-24 and 2025-26.
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 their proposal:
In PSC case 5-UR-112, We Energies is requesting:
Electricity bills
Requested electricity hike for 2027: $168.7 million, or 4.6%
Requested electricity hike for 2028: $178.4 million, 4.5% on top of the requested 2025 increase
Total requested increase for 2027-28: $347.1 million, 9.3% above current prices
Residential impact: 14-15%, phased in over two years.
For a typical customer using 660 kWh per month: $144 bill today would rise by $13 in 2027 and another $8 to $9 in 2028, for a total of $22 above today’s costs. That’s another $262 per year by 2028.
Natural Gas bills
Wisconsin Gas: $59.4 million in 2027, $37.2 million in 2028. Total increase: $96.6 million.
Wisconsin Electric Gas Operations (serving southeastern Wisconsin)
$2 million in 2025, $33 million in 2026. Total increase: $35 million.
Steam utility (downtown Milwaukee)
$0.1 million for 2027, $1.2 million for 2028. Total increase: $1.3 million.
Links to Richard Stasik and Joseph Zgonc overviews of the case.
IMPACT OF DATA CENTERS on THIS CASE
- We Energies’ rate case was filed while the big case involving how data centers will pay for their energy needs is still proceeding. The decisions on that case could change the amounts in the initial We Energies’ April 1 proposal.
- As it stands now, We Energies is proposing to work with American Transmission Co. to implement a key fix for a big loophole in the data centers case that would expose customers of We Energies and other Wisconsin and Michigan utilities paying for about $2 billion in costs for big overhead transmission lines.
- CUB will be reviewing the company’s proposal to ensure the transmission fix is workable and helps live up to the commitments the tech companies and utilities have made that the tech companies will pay their own way for the network upgrades needed for data centers.
- Another key issue in the data center case is whether non-data center customers, including the customers CUB represents, will be on the hook for up to 25% of roughly $8 billion of new power plants needed to serve data centers.
WHAT’S DRIVING THE INCREASE?
- We Energies attributes the increase to power plant projects that it’s building to meet increasing demand for electricity. This includes solar and battery projects that would start to be paid for in 2027 and a new natural gas plant in Oak Creek that would hit bills in 2028.
- Other factors include:
- inflation
- the utility’s request for higher profits and an end-around to seek more profit.
- higher fuel costs to buy electricity from the Point Beach Nuclear Plant.
SPOTLIGHT ON PROFITS
- CUB urges the PSC to make progress in reducing profits. The PSC declined to reduce profits for We Energies in the last case, decided in December 2024. CUB’s advocacy in that case would have saved $125 million over two years.
- In the new proposal, the utility wants to hike its return on equity back to 9.9%. We Energies 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 receive the fifth highest profit rates in the country, forcing customers to shoulder energy bills that are too high.
- The parent company of We Energies, 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 We Energies are paying among the highest rates in Wisconsin, and the Midwest. A new analysis ranks We Energies the third highest utility among 50 utilities across the Midwest.
- Customers’ bills have more than doubled over the past 25 years, at a rate faster than the inflation rate. Meanwhile, income and wealth disparities between the wealthiest Wisconsinites and everyone else continue to grow.
- Shareholders of We Energies’ parent company, WEC Energy Group, have done exceedingly well during that time, with gains for WEC outperfoming not only other utilities, but the S&P 500 as a whole.
EXPECTED TIMELINE
- April 1: Application filed in PSC Docket 5-UR-112
- Spring/Summer: PSC Audit, Analysis
- August-September: CUB experts, PSC staff, other groups weigh in
- Likely in September: Hearing for utility, CUB, PSC staff, other groups
- September/October: Public Hearing. Subscribe to CUB Updates to stay in the loop.
- Likely October: Last day to submit public comments on the case.
- Likely in November: PSC Open Meeting to decide the case
- Likely in December: PSC 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.