(The Center Square) – We Energies customers are expected to receive a 3.9% residential electricity rate increase in 2027 and a 3.5% additional increase in 2028 after a marathon session of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

The rates were lower than what We Energies has requested, in part due to pushback through public feedback and groups such as the Citizens Utility Board.

We Energies has requested a 16.3% residential increase phased in over two years. Instead, the board approved an increase estimated to amount to a $7 or $8 bill increase per month in 2027 and between $6 and $7 per month in 2028, according to We Energies estimates.

We Energies said in April that it estimated its proposed increase would cost customers $13 per month in 2027 and an additional $8 to $9 per month in 2028.

"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," We Energies said in a statement. "During this months-long process we worked with customer groups and Commission staff to reduce costs to customers by tens of millions of dollars."

Commission Chairwoman Summer Strand, appointed to the board in 2023 by Gov. Tony Evers in March 2023, opened the meeting by explaining the board’s repeated approval of energy cost increases.

“We remain in the throes of an energy evolution that involves a massive amount of new construction and related capital expenditures,” Strand said. “The recent emergence of data centers has exacerbated the situation. These trends are not unique to Wisconsin. They’re occurring throughout the U.S. and around the world.”

Strand noted that public comment and pushback from groups such as CUB were important in the drop in the We Energies rate increases.

She then went on to blame Republican legislative leaders for denying an increased budget for staffing and project reviews along with funding for intervenors along with blaming federal Republican leadership.

Strand said that the election results with Democrats taking over power in the Wisconsin Legislature was an opportunity to advocate for "substantive changes to the PSC’s legal framework."

“Utilities and developers are building a record number of new facilities and the person running the country is instigating geopolitical conflicts and unleashing erratic, harmful and in some instances illegal energy policies,” Strand said. “As a result, rising energy costs have placed severe financial strain on households, significantly compounding broader affordability pressures.”

CUB said that it was pleased the board approved several of its recommendations, including decreasing profit for shareholders, profit on project cost overruns, profit on closed power plants and ensuring that shareholders are paying the company’s board of directors fees instead of customers.

“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 a statement. “Utilities are on notice that regulators will be scrutinizing their costs more closely from now on.”

The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication getting comment from Content.

Overall, CUB believes that the approved rates will be far lower than the $449 million estimated increase over two years that We Energies had requested.

We Energies had requested a 9.9% return on equity in its proposal while CUB pushed back on that amount, estimating that it would save customers $100 million annually if the rate was reduced to 9.1%.

"Our typical customer bills are below the national average and in line with customers across the Midwest," We Energies said in a statement. "That will remain true in the coming years."

Commission staff is currently working to verify the final estimates, Director of Communications Meghan Covey-Lashua told The Center Square, but the profit margin was reduced from We Energies’ proposal.

“It’s critical for all of us to rethink how we’re coming at affordability and the tools that we have to impact rates and customer bill impacts,” PSC Commissioner Kristy Nieto said during the meeting. “It’s also critically important to remember that the concepts of independent utility regulation and evidence-based decision making are what works to serve the public interest.”