The Public Service Commission approved the first rate increases in four years for We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service of Green Bay, both subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group. Along with adjustments for fuel costs and provisions of a settlement agreement approved earlier this month, about 1.1 million We Energies customers can expect rates to increase by about 0.66 percent in 2020. Rates are expected to increase by about 1.6 percent for about 442,000 WPS customers. The PSC separately approved modest rate decreases for Madison Gas and Electric and Alliant Energy to account for lower-than-expected natural gas prices. Average residential customers of MGE can expect to save about 54 cents on their monthly electric bills in 2020, while the typical residential customer of Alliant will save about $1.58 per month. As part of the WEC rate cases, the commission ruled that neither utility can use ratepayer money to subsidize home charging stations for electric vehicles. The utilities had sought to spend up to $10 million to offer $1,000 rebates for customers who install the equipment as part of a two-year pilot program in which participants would pay time of use rates for charging their vehicles.

Brendan Conway, a spokesman for WE Energies had this to say about the PSC decision, “Working with the commission and customer and business groups, our rate proposal protects customers and allows us to continue on a path to a cleaner energy future that is safe, reliable and affordable. We appreciate the feedback from the commission on our EV proposal and will continue to work with them and other stakeholders on this emerging technology.”