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On May 14th, Wisconsin Utility Investors Day at the Capitol, 18 out of 33 Senators and 25 Assembly Representatives hosted meetings with Wisconsin Utility Investor members.

Executive Director James Buchen kicked off the busy day by preparing WUI member attendees for meetings with their State Senator and Representative by providing a legislative analysis of the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) legislation. Ellen Nowak, Vice President of State and Federal Affairs at ATC, offered insights into the bill's historical, economic, and practical aspects to facilitate engagement during their meetings.

WUI members enjoyed lunch at the Best Western Park Hotel while Representative David Steffen, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities, addressed the group. Rep. Steffen assured the audience that legislators value input from their constituents to understand how various pieces of legislation will impact the people they represent. The members were also briefed on current legislation aimed at securing our energy future through investments in new nuclear power plants.

If you weren’t able to join us on May 14, you can still contact your legislators and urge them to vote “YES” on Senate Bill 28 and Assembly Bill 25.

Click Here to identify your Senator and Representative and send them an email message. Or write them a letter addressed to Senator or Representative [name], P.O. Box 7882, Madison WI 53707.

Madison Gas and Electric has received approval from the Public Service  Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to build a 20-megawatt (MW) solar array and 40-MW battery storage system in Fitchburg. Known as the Sunnyside Solar Energy Center, the project will provide locally generated solar energy to MGE's distribution system.

The new energy center will be located off Whalen Road. The 20 MW of solar capacity is expected to generate enough electricity annually to serve about 6,000 households. The 40 MW of four-hour battery storage will provide electricity during times when energy demand is greatest and when renewable capacity is insufficient to meet all customer needs. EDF Renewables is the project developer. The solar array is expected to begin serving customers in 2026, with the battery storage expected in 2027.

The state has seen a handful of new data center proposals, including projects in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Rapids, Port Washington and Kenosha. Microsoft broke ground in 2023 on a 450-megawatt, $3.3 billion campus in Mount Pleasant at the former Foxconn site, although work on the data center has since paused twice.

Wisconsin lawmakers on the state’s finance committee included a sales tax exemption in the 2023-25 state budget based on a stand-alone bill that received bipartisan support. The tax exemption, subject to approval by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., includes land, site improvements, IT and cooling equipment and electricity. The agency has approved three data centers to date.

Other states have enacted the model legislation at the urging of utilities and industry groups like NetChoice and the Data Center Coalition. NetChoice’s president noted at a legislative hearing that Wisconsin has long provided  exemptions on agricultural and manufacturing equipment and asked lawmakers why they couldn’t do the same for America’s capital investment leaders.

Madison-headquartered Alliant Energy helped pay for a study that determined Wisconsin was at a competitive disadvantage to neighboring states. It is estimated that a hyperscale data center developed in the Milwaukee-Waukesha metro region could create 300 jobs, generate $3 million in annual state and local tax revenue and provide more than $87 million in annual economic output.

The state estimated that a typical data center would decrease tax collections by $8.5 million during the initial construction phase, followed by an annual reduction of $735,000. Additionally, if equipment is replaced on a five-year schedule, the sales tax would decrease by an additional $1.6 million on an annualized basis.

Microsoft’s data center campus has inherited additional perks initially designated for Foxconn: discounted electricity rates for Microsoft buildings located within a designated information technology zone. In future phases of Microsoft’s project, the company may purchase Lake Michigan water via the city of Racine, a rare arrangement in light of the Great Lakes Compact which regulates the use and withdrawal of lake water.

We Energies intends to construct more than $2 billion in natural gas infrastructure, including two new plants and a pipeline, to meet the power demands of Microsoft’s data center, which is its largest anticipated electric load. This prompted concerns that ratepayers will be saddled with the new, fossil-fuel plants if the data center project is scaled back or canceled.

The utility has objected to such concerns, noting that the infrastructure is necessary to increase “reliability, resiliency, and dispatchability” of natural gas for its current customers.

Additionally, it has proposed a new rate structure, known as a tariff, for “very large customers,” which the company developed to meet the Microsoft and Port Washington data centers’ electric needs. 

The rate would assign costs that result from new or expanded power plants and transmission lines along with electricity proportional to data center use, thereby protecting We Energies’ “customers and shareholders from harm.”

Wisconsin’s utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, is reviewing the proposal. We Energies has requested approval by the year’s end.

ALLIANT ENERGY ANNOUNCES FIRST-QUARTER 2025 RESULTS

Alliant Energy Corporation has announced earnings per share for the three months ended March 31 as follow:

• First quarter GAAP earnings per share were $0.83 in 2025, compared to $0.62 in 2024.

• Reaffirming 2025 earnings guidance range of $3.15 - $3.25 per share.

• Updated forecasted 2025 - 2028 capital expenditures of $11.5 billion in aggregate.

MGE ENERGY REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER 2025 EARNINGS

MGE Energy's earnings for the first quarter of 2025 were $41.6 million, or $1.14 per share, compared to $33.8 million, or $0.93 per share, for the same period in the prior year. Rate-base investment growth and weather impacts drove first-quarter results. MGE continues to invest in new, cost effective renewable generation, which is helping to fuel the company's asset growth. An increase in electric investments included in rate-base contributed to increased electric earnings for 2025. Darien solar project in Rock and Walworth counties became operational in March 2025, serving MGE electric customers with cost-effective, carbon-free energy.

MGE owns 25 MW of solar capacity from the Darien Solar Project. Gas retail sales saw a significant increase of 19 percent in the first quarter of 2025, while electric retail sales rose by three percent. These changes occurred against a backdrop of relatively normal weather in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the milder conditions observed in the first quarter of 2024.

WEC ENERGY GROUP REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER RESULTS

WEC Energy Group has reported net income of $724.2 million, or $2.27 per share, for the first quarter of 2025. This compares to earnings of $622.3 million, or $1.97 per share, for last year's first quarter.

Consolidated revenues totaled $3.1 billion, up $469.3 million from the first quarter a year ago. For the quarter, natural gas deliveries in Wisconsin — excluding natural gas used for power generation — rose by 15.5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2024. On a weather normal basis, these natural gas deliveries were 0.5 percent lower. Retail deliveries of electricity — excluding the iron ore mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — were up by 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the first quarter last year. Electricity consumption by small commercial and industrial customers was 2.1 percent higher. Electricity use by large commercial and industrial customers — excluding the iron ore mine — increased by 1.1 percent. Residential electricity use rose by 5.5 percent.

XCEL ENERGY BOARD DECLARES DIVIDEND ON COMMON STOCK

The Board of Directors of Xcel Energy has declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock of 57 cents per share. The dividends are payable July 20, 2025, to shareholders of record on June 13, 2025.

The owner of a shuttered nuclear power plant in northeast Wisconsin is working with the state’s largest utility company to explore the potential for bringing new nuclear energy generation to the site. Utah-based nuclear company  EnergySolutions owns the Kewaunee Power Station in Kewaunee County. The company has announced that it is working with WEC Energy Group, the parent company of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, on the effort.

The companies are in the early stages of a “multi-year” plan to pursue federal approval for bringing new nuclear energy online at the site, according to EnergySolutions. The company says the plan also includes conducting “in-depth” site and environmental studies.

EnergySolutions President and CEO Ken Robuck said rising energy demand from data centers, artificial intelligence and industrial growth have made reliable carbon-free energy more important than ever.

Courtesy of Royalbroil, own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Wisconsin regulators have paved the way for We Energies to spend about $1.5 billion to build two natural gas power plants in southeastern Wisconsin.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved the utility’s plans to build natural gas plants in the city of Oak Creek in Milwaukee County and the town of Paris in Kenosha County. The more-than-$1.2 billion natural gas plant in Oak Creek would essentially replace aging coal units at the South Oak Creek power plant. Two of those units came offline last year, and the remaining two are scheduled to shut down this year.

Meanwhile, the new plant in Kenosha County has an estimated construction cost of more than $270 million. It will complement the utility’s existing peaker plant in Paris. We Energies plans to begin construction this year. Both plants are part of We Energies’ more than $2 billion plan to invest in natural gas infrastructure to respond to expected increases in energy demand in southeast Wisconsin, driven by the development of power-hungry data centers and industrial growth.

 

(L) City of Oak Creek, Milwaukee County. (R) Town of Paris, Kenosha County. Courtesy of psc.wi.gov.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) is considering We Energies' plan to build more than $2 billion of new natural gas infrastructure in southeast Wisconsin.

The PSC recently held a pair of public hearings allowing state residents to weigh in on We Energies’ plans to build a roughly $1.2 billion natural gas plant and a more than $456.3 million liquefied natural gas storage facility in Oak Creek. 

The new natural gas plant in Oak Creek would essentially replace aging coal units at the South Oak Creek power plant. Two of those units came offline last year, and the remaining two are scheduled to come offline this year. The projects are necessary to meet future energy needs and support economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We Energies describes the natural gas plants as necessary to meet rising energy demands from industrial development in the region, including multiple planned data centers in southeast Wisconsin that require substantial amounts of electric power. A natural gas plant emits about half of the CO2 of a coal-burning plant.

The investments in Oak Creek represent the largest portion of the utility’s more than $2 billion plan to build natural gas infrastructure in southeast Wisconsin. The plan also includes a roughly $300 million natural gas plant in Kenosha County and a more than $200 million gas pipeline in Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties. 

The coal-fired Elm Road Generating Station on the company’s Oak Creek campus is expected to be converted to natural gas in a separate project as We Energies’ parent company works to stop using coal by 2032.

Xcel Energy will soon begin building a key link in Minnesota’s energy future to deliver clean, reliable electricity to customers across the upper midwest after earning approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission this week.

Once complete in 2028, the roughly 175-mile Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line will carry electricity generated in southwest Minnesota to the existing electric grid at Xcel Energy’s Sherco site in Becker, Minnesota. The line will deliver enough energy to power more than 1 million homes across the upper midwest.

“The Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line delivers on our commitment to providing affordable and reliable energy to our customers,” according to Ryan Long, President, Xcel Energy-Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. “Through this project, we will invest in our communities, add industry-leading amounts of clean energy that our customers want, and maintain reliable service as we meet customers’ growing demand for electricity.”

Workers at Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear plant have begun a refueling and maintenance effort allowing the facility to continue providing reliable, carbon-free energy for customers throughout the Upper Midwest and remain an economic engine for the region.

During the planned work, the plant will be taken offline and nearly 1,000 specialists will join the plant’s full-time workforce. This provides a significant boost to the economies of Wright County and the surrounding region. The work helps set up the plant for a future extension of its operations, which will play an important part in achieving Minnesota’s clean energy goals.

“Nuclear energy is an important clean energy resource that will help achieve Minnesota’s goal to power communities with reliable, 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040,” said Ryan Long, president, Xcel Energy – Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. “Ensuring our nuclear plants operate responsibly allows us to continue delivering reliable, carbon-free energy to our Upper Midwest customers well into the future.”

Together, the Monticello plant and Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear plant provide 23 percent of the total electricity that the company’s customers use in the Upper Midwest.

Extension of operations

Plant maintenance makes it possible to extend Monticello’s operating life and renew Xcel Energy’s investment and commitment to the surrounding region. Earlier this year, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a 20-year license extension for the Monticello plant, allowing the plant to continue operations through 2050. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission also approved extended operations through 2050, matching the federal extension.

“Refueling and maintenance activities allow us to continue delivering the carbon-free, 24/7 dispatchable energy that our nuclear plants provide our customers,” according to Chris Church, Senior Vice President, Chief Nuclear Officer. “This work requires extensive planning and is critical to maintaining safe, reliable operations at our Monticello plant.”

The company has a long track record of operating its nuclear plants safely. Last year during its annual public meeting, the NRC reported that the Monticello plant operated safely and within the highest performance category.

In recent years, Xcel Energy’s nuclear team has taken steps to save money for customers. The company has implemented an innovative process for temporarily reducing nuclear generation overnight on certain days when low-cost wind resources are abundant. The nuclear team has also reduced production costs at its nuclear plants by 25 percent over the past decade.

The Board of Directors of WEC Energy Group has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 89.25 cents per share on the company's common stock.

The dividend is payable June 1, 2025, to stockholders of record on May 14, 2025. This marks the 331^st consecutive quarter — dating back to 1942 — that the company will have paid a dividend to its stockholders.