GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — For months, Wisconsin Public Service has been asking state regulators for permission to raise electricity rates by nearly 15% over two years. This week, the state said the increase needs to be lower.
- The Public Service Commission is the state agency that regulates utilities for Wisconsin.
- This week, the PSC made changes to how WPS and its sister company, WE Energies, will be regulated.
- The PSC's decisions will force WPS to lower its proposed electric rate increases.
In September, the PSC held a public hearing on WPS's proposed rate increases. At the hearing, customers voiced their concerns.
"It's not affordable, and it's not reasonable," Denise Larson, a Green Bay resident, said.
At its nearly 11-hour-long meeting on Thursday, PSC commissioners voiced similar concerns.
“Rising energy costs have placed severe financial strain on households, significantly compounding broader affordability pressures," Summer Strand, a PSC chairperson, said.
In the meeting, the PSC made decisions that will not only lower the rate increases, but change the way WPS and its sister company, WE Energies, will be regulated.
“On the heels of the historic election that occurred earlier this week, today is an especially opportune moment to emphasize that the time to mobilize, organize, and advocate for substantive changes to the PSC’s legal framework begins now," Strand said.
The PSC reduced WPS's profit margin and the amount of revenue WPS can make off of its customers.
This will ultimately lower the rate increase, though the PSC is yet to outline exactly what the increases will now be.
WPS spokesperson Matt Cullen said in a statement that based on the PSC ruling, they estimate WPS’s electric rate increases to now be 0.3% in 2027, which is about $1 or less more per month for a typical household, and 2.9% in 2028, which is about $5-6 more per month for a typical household.
Cullen said they estimate We Energies will have an electric rate increase of 3.9% in 2027, which is about $7-8 more per month for a typical household, and 3.5% in 2028, which is about $6-7 more per month for a typical household.
Cullen's statement also said:
"We appreciate all the time and work of the Commission, its staff and everyone who took part in this public process. Our customers count on us every day for the energy they need, and we recognize our responsibility to continue providing safe and reliable energy, while keeping customer bills as low as possible. During this months-long process we worked with customer groups and Commission staff to reduce costs to customers by tens of millions of dollars.... We recognize our responsibility to continue providing safe and reliable energy, while keeping customer bills as low as possible.”
After the PSC's decisions, electric rates will still rise, but at a lower amount. The increases will fund WPS and WE Energies' investment in new energy infrastructure, burying of power lines and trimming trees to reduce power outages.
The PSC also:
- Removed We Energies Board of Director expenses from customer bills
- Approved a forestry management plan
- Increased the amount of overearnings that will be returned back to customers.
- Made improvements to payment assistance programs for utility customers.
The Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit advocating for affordable and reliable utilities in Wisconsin, released its own press release on the PSC ruling. CUB says the ruling will save customers over $80 million.
“Voters in Wisconsin and across the country sent a message that affordability is job one, and we couldn’t agree more,” Tom Content, CUB executive director, said in the release. “Utilities are on notice that regulators will be scrutinizing their costs more closely from now on.”
Still, the CUB said the PSC should have gone further to benefit and protect We Energies and WPS customers.
Cullen said the PSC is expected to release a written order on exactly what the increases will be in the next few weeks.
