This week, Wisconsin Power and Light, Northern States Power-Wisconsin and Madison Gas and Electric filed base-rate case applications totaling roughly $450 million in higher electric and natural gas rates over two years. The nonprofit Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group Inc. (WIEG) called on the Public Service Commission to drastically reduce the rate hike requests as Wisconsin’s rates already exceed the Midwest and national averages, and have for over 20 years.
Each year, WIEG’s 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.
WIEG is urging lawmakers to reject renewed efforts to revive the transmission Right of First Refusal (ROFR) legislation (Assembly Bill 25 and Senate Bill 28), which seek to remove competitive protections and would result in higher costs for consumers.
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.
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