Xcel Energy has reported on steps taken to contain and manage a water leak detected by routine groundwater monitoring systems at its Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant late last year. Xcel Energy took swift action to contain the leak to the plant site, which poses no health and safety risk to the local community or the environment.

Xcel Energy notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as the state, on November 22, 2022, the day the leak was confirmed. The company has since coordinated regularly with state and federal regulators, as well as local officials.

Foxconn and We Energies 2,000 panels on the Taiwan-based company’s Mount Pleasant campus. Foxconn Technology Group describes the effort as “one of the largest nonresidential solar projects in Racine County” and said it is “committed to integrating green and sustainable practices throughout our operations.”

“As Foxconn’s operations in Wisconsin expand in response to market demand, the presence of renewable energy resources within the park demonstrates our commitment to environmental stewardship across the manufacturing supply chain to our customers and the community,” the company’s statement said. We Energies will install, own and maintain the 1-megawatt project which is capable of producing enough energy to power 300 homes. Renderings show the solar panels being installed around retention ponds at the company’s Mount Pleasant campus.

Two Republican state lawmakers want to give local governments more say over wind turbine projects. Citing public health concerns, Senator Andre Jacque and Representative Ty Boden seek co-sponsors on a bill to restore the ability of towns and counties to impose restrictions on new turbine projects that are more restrictive than Public Service Commission rules.

A sponsorship memo cites the January collapse of a wind turbine in Dodge County, and notes turbine projects may potentially not be a good fit in some areas given the density of rural homes.

Xcel Energy has filed a request with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to create a new program to expand assistance to lower-earning households who need additional assistance to pay their energy bills. The proposal for the new program followed several months of discussion and coordination with the Citizens Utility Board.

The company’s proposal would make it the first utility in Wisconsin to offer a targeted assistance program and would increase the total amount of income-qualified support by fifty percent or an estimated five million dollars annually. As part of the new program, customers who already receive assistance from the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program would be automatically enrolled.

Xcel Energy's Wisconsin and Michigan’s new President, Karl Hoesly, recently announced the promotion of Mara Ascheman as Regional Vice President of Rates and Regulatory Affairs and Tyrel Zich as Regional Vice President of Regulatory Policy. Both will report directly to President Hoesly.

Ms. Ascheman is currently a principal regulatory attorney with more than 12 years’ experience representing Xcel Energy before the Wisconsin and Minnesota state regulatory commissions in a wide variety of electric and natural gas proceedings. In her new role she will direct the development of regulatory rate case filings and Public Service Commission permitting and oversee the revenue requirements for the Wisconsin and Michigan Company.

American Transmission Company has promoted four executives who reflect the company’s commitment to the strategic vision of providing safe, reliable transmission service in an increasingly complex electric grid. Jared Winters has been named Vice President, construction and asset maintenance. Debbie Masbruch has been named Vice President, Project Controls, Supply Chain and Analytics. Sarah Justus has been named Director, Major Project Development. Michelle Stokes has been named Director, Field Services.

Chairman of the Board, President and CEO Mike Rowe said, “Promoting these individuals sets ATC up for success as we meet the business challenges of the evolving energy landscape and our strategic priorities.”

Alliant Energy Corporation has announced the appointment of Lisa M. Barton to the newly created role of President and Chief Operating Officer, effective February 27, 2023. In this role, Ms. Barton will work closely with John O. Larsen, Alliant Energy’s Chair and Chief Executive Officer, to execute the company’s investment growth plan and continue advancing Alliant Energy’s work to enable a clean energy future for the customers and communities Alliant Energy serves. She will oversee the company’s two public utility subsidiaries, Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light, as well as Alliant Energy’s customer experience, sustainability and regulatory strategies.

Ms. Barton most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utility companies in the United States. She was responsible for all of AEP’s regulated operations across eleven states and for the health and safety of 16,700 employees. Ms. Barton is known as a passionate advocate for a responsible clean energy transition. She is credited with guiding AEP’s expansion into regulated renewables and shaping the company’s grid reliability and resiliency initiatives.

Alliant Energy was recognized as a top-25 company in the energy and utility industry based on a combination of its environmental, social and governance scores. This ranking accounts for the progress made in renewable energy, inclusivity in the workplace and social causes.

Nearly fifty employees from We Energies and its sister company Wisconsin Public Service were sent to California, working to get the lights back on for tens of thousands of people who lost power from a recent series of strong storms. 

The We Energies and WPS crews were part of mutual aid efforts to help Pacific Gas and Electric address outages from storms, flooding and mudslides. The crews loaded their trucks and left Wisconsin Saturday, January 7. Brendan Conway, WEC Energy Group Media Relations Director, reported that as the crew was leaving California after completing their work, they stopped at the scene of an accident and were instrumental in saving a woman's life.

ATC has collectively awarded $65,000 to 18 recipients across its service area to plant trees and low-growing vegetation through its Community Planting and Pollinator Habitat programs. Now in its 10th year, ATC has given over 300 community awards for these projects totaling more than $625,000.

Vegetation funded through the Community Planting Program requires that communities plant trees outside of high-voltage transmission line rights-of-way. Low growing, compatible vegetation funded through the Pollinator Habitat Program allows entities to cultivate species within the rights-of-way that benefit pollinator food and habitat. Both programs help maintain electric reliability of the transmission system by keeping tall-growing vegetation outside the rights-of-way. Recipients of both programs commit to comply with ATC’s maintenance standards for all current and future planting plans, and urban forestry activities near high-voltage electric transmission lines.

Madison Gas and Electric in partnership with FOCUS ON ENERGY®, has kicked off strategic energy management workshops this summer for multifamily households and property owners. The effort aims to create awareness and boost energy savings from the building level to tenants’ units.

“We are working directly with property managers in our service area and with a variety of buildings in their portfolios,” according to MGE’s Charles Warner, Senior Residential Customer and Digital Engagement Manager - Residential and Community Services. “Our two-pronged approach focuses on operations/maintenance and tenant engagement.”

Ave M. Bie, a business law, utilities and energy attorney, has been appointed to the board of directors of WEC Energy Group Her appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2023.

"We're delighted that Ave has agreed to join the WEC Energy Group board," said Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman. "Her extensive public and private experience in the utility sector will add another layer of depth to an engaged and effective board of directors."

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.