Wisconsin’s Northwoods region offers endless ways to enjoy the outdoors, from muskellunge fishing in Boulder Junction to cross-country skiing along the Ice Age Trail in Tomahawk. Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) offers a unique way to experience the area’s natural beauty through a self-guided tour of its Otter Rapids hydroelectric
power plant west of Eagle River off Highway 70.  Otter Rapids Hydro is nestled along the banks of the Wisconsin River, west of Eagle River. The hydroelectric power plant uses the flow of the river to produce affordable, reliable and clean energy for WPS customers and has been generating clean energy for more than 100 years. It also helps control water levels for the Eagle River lakes system, which is part of the world’s largest chain of freshwater lakes.

Legislative Issues

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Link to Comment on  Docket 9300-DR-105

Xcel Energy has announced a new transportation vision that drives toward providing the infrastructure and energy to run all vehicles in its service area on carbon-free electricity or other clean energy by 2050. Expanding upon the company’s existing 2030 electric vision supports its overall goal to become a net-zero energy provider by 2050. By enabling a zero-carbon transportation future, the company’s clean energy can also help customers save billions of dollars in fuel costs and deliver cleaner air for everyone.

“Xcel Energy is making incredible progress and has already reduced power sector carbon emissions by fifty percent since 2005,” said Bob Frenzel, Chairman, President, and CEO of Xcel Energy. “As we expand our clean energy leadership to transportation, which is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the nation, we know that electric vehicles are a key component of our comprehensive strategy to be a net-zero energy provider by 2050.”

The Board of Directors of MGE Energy has announced an increased the regular quarterly dividend rate approximately five percent to $0.4075 per share on the outstanding shares of the company's common stock. The dividend is payable September 15, 2022, to shareholders of record September 1, 2022. This raises the annualized dividend rate by eight cents from $1.55 per share to $1.63 per share.

"Today's dividend increase marks the company's 47th consecutive year of increasing its dividend, an accomplishment that everyone at MGE Energy can be proud of. We recognize the importance of dividend growth to the overall shareholder value proposition," Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Keebler said. "We continue to move forward in our clean energy transition to achieve our goals of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and carbon reductions of at least 80% by 2030. Today's action by our board demonstrates the continued strength and resilience of MGE Energy's long-term business strategy in building your community energy company for the future."

MGE Energy has increased its dividend annually for the past 47 years and has paid cash dividends for more than 110 years.

Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine have honored American Transmission Company as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production™. This is the fifth consecutive year ATC was named to this prestigious list, and the seventh overall time, this year coming in at number 13 on the list. Earning a spot means that ATC is one of the best companies to work for in the country.

The Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production award is based on analysis of survey responses from 57,000 current employees in the manufacturing and production industry category. In that survey, eighty-eight percent of ATC’s employees said ATC is a great place to work compared to fifty-seven percent of employees at the average U.S. company.

Construction activities are underway at the future site of the Red Barn Wind Farm in Grant County. A subsidiary of Madison Gas and Electric will purchase a ten percent share of the 92-megawatt (MW) project when it’s complete.

Minnesota-based ALLETE Clean Energy is constructing the wind farm, which will consist of 28 turbines over about 12,000 acres. The land hosting the turbines will be leased from local landowners, who may continue to use it for farming or grazing. MGE’s share of the project is expected to generate enough energy to power about 4,000 households.

The company’s investment in the Red Barn Wind Farm is one of several renewable energy projects in various stages of development.

The price of natural gas affects both natural gas service and electric service because natural gas is also used to generate electricity. The cost of natural gas is paid directly by customers without any markup from Xcel Energy.

Wholesale natural gas prices continue to increase, hitting a fifteen year high. The wholesale price of natural gas was also higher than anticipated in the third quarter, leading to an under-collection from electric customers.

Site Selector Magazine has announced that for the fourth consecutive year Alliant Energy has earned their Top Utility in Economic Development honor. The annual list recognizes the company for its contributions to local community development and job creation.   

In its September issue, Site Selection credits Alliant Energy’s economic development team, in collaboration with local, regional and state economic development partners in Iowa and Wisconsin, for delivering more than $2.1 billion in new capital investment and creating more than 4,400 new jobs in 2021.  

Alliant Energy is one of twenty companies nationally named to the list and the only one in Iowa. In all, there are 3,300 utility companies, including 900 electric cooperatives, in the United States. 

Xcel Energy will move forward to build Minnesota’s largest-ever solar project at the Sherco plant site in Becker, as it transitions away from using coal at the site in the coming years. Today, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) provided the final approvals needed for Sherco Solar, which is a key component of Xcel Energy’s plan to nearly triple the amount of solar on its Upper Midwest system by 2028.

In addition to being the largest single solar development in Minnesota, the Upper Midwest and among the largest in the United States, Sherco Solar will provide clean energy while also being the lowest-cost solar on Xcel Energy’s Upper Midwest system. It will also create jobs and investment in the Becker community as the Sherco coal plant is retired in the coming years. The solar project will serve as a direct replacement for most of the capacity of the first coal unit retiring at the Sherco plant.

Utilities and renewable advocates say the projects will aid the clean energy transition, but some consumer groups have expressed concerns about the costs. Three new transmission lines that are estimated to cost around $2.2 billion will cross through Wisconsin under a large expansion approved by the Midwest grid operator that’s designed to facilitate the clean energy transition.

The Board of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator signed off on a $10.3 billion portfolio of 18 transmission projects for the Upper Midwest on July 25. The lines are expected to support 53 gigawatts of renewable energy and provide between $23 to $52 billion in benefits as utilities retire aging coal plants. Projects in Wisconsin are slated to start coming online as early as 2028.

MGE Energy has reported second-quarter earnings of $21.8 million.
The company had net income of sixty cents per share. It posted revenue of $152.3 million in the period.

Alliant Energy is about to begin construction on six new solar projects in central Wisconsin that will generate enough electricity to power about 100,000 homes annually once completed. The utility has received approval for the projects from the Public Service Commission. 

The projects are Albany Solar in Green County, Beaver Dam Solar in Dodge County, Cassville Solar in Grant County, Paddock Solar in Rock County, Springfield Solar in Dodge County and Wautoma Solar in Waushara County. 

Consistent with its commitment to sustainable energy and to global climate science, Madison Gas and Electric will reduce carbon at least eighty percent by 2030 as it works toward achieving net-zero carbon electricity by 2050. Under its Energy 2030 framework, announced in 2015, the company set a goal of forty percent carbon reduction by 2030, one of the first such goals set by a utility and in alignment with the Paris Agreement on climate change. 

Since then, the company has said it fully expects to achieve carbon reductions of at least sixty-five percent by 2030. In 2019, MGE established its goal of net-zero carbon electricity by mid-century, consistent with climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and analysis of the company’s goal by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.