Advocates push for new Democratic Legislature to address utility profits, data center regulation

Consumer advocates and environmental groups are calling on the incoming Wisconsin state Legislature to take action to lower household energy bills and ensure data centers pay their fair share. At a press conference at the state Capitol Thursday, advocates said changes to state energy policy could save the average Wisconsin household $380 on its electric bill by 2028. The proposals come after Democrats won majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature last week, and after state regulators scaled-back electric rate hikes for two of Wisconsin’s largest investor-owned utilities. Understanding Wisconsin, Together. WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter. Company This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Email Subscribe “Wisconsin has an important opportunity to take a different approach to energy policy, one that puts affordability and families first,” said Lauren Reeg, Midwest advocate for the national nonprofit Evergreen Action. “We have an opportunity to address rising electricity costs by holding utilities accountable to ratepayers, ensuring large energy users like data centers pay their fair share.” Wisconsin’s peak energy demand is expected to increase 40 percent by 2032 , driven largely by three large data center projects currently under construction. During a meeting on the rate cases last week, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin chair Summer Strand said the agency may lack the tools to adequately plan for rising energy demand and protect customers. She called for the state Legislature to update what she described as “outdated” state laws. Evergreen Action and the Natural Resources Defense Council say the state could require data centers to pay a 2 cent surcharge for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they use. They say that could save the average Wisconsin customer $180 by 2028. The groups also said reducing the guaranteed rate at which utilities profit off of their capital investments was another way the state Legislature and Public Service Commission could bring bills down. According to the nonprofits, the standard profit rate for Wisconsin’s major investor-owned utilities is 9.8 percent. They estimated that each 1.5 percentage point reduction in the profit rate would save households $76 per year, or $200 total, by 2028. “Utility profits have been over the top for far too long, and customers pay for that with utility bills that have been rising faster than inflation,” said Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin. “It’s long overdue for policymakers to adopt common sense solutions.” In its most recent rate case, the Public Service Commission did opt to cut the profit rate for We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, bringing it down from 9.8 percent to 9.5 percent for those utilities, though ratepayer advocates felt the utilities could’ve sustained a bigger cut. This year, the state PSC also approved special electric rates for data center-scale customers in We Energies’ service territory, as well as a special rate agreement between Alliant Energy and the data center under construction in its territory, aimed at shielding customers from costs associated with serving data centers. But Wisconsin has no statewide laws establishing environmental or ratepayer protections specifically for data centers. “The Legislature, the only legislation they’ve ever passed on data centers is the tax breaks that were passed in 2023 and there were no guardrails passed as part of that,” Content said. “That’s left the job to the Public Service Commission to do what it can under state law.” Democrats and Republicans offered competing proposals last legislative session to establish guardrails around data centers. But both failed to reach Gov. Tony Evers’ desk. With Democrats winning governing majorities in the Assembly and Senate for the first time in almost two decades, state Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland, said voters sent a message that they want elected leaders to address rising costs. She said last week’s election gives Democrats “an opportunity and a responsibility to do things differently” to address affordability. “We will be ready to pass legislation that will bring down utility costs, protect Wisconsin ratepayers, and make sure that the public interest will come before the interests of giant corporations,” Stroud said. “That’s what voters sent us here to do, and that’s what we will do.” Stroud didn’t commit to specific policies that Democrats would advance during the press conference. She said there would be a lot of negotiation around what’s viable and feasible to bring forward “something that we can get passed in the Legislature and signed by the governor.” Stroud said she personally wanted to expand access to renewable energy and make sure the PSC has “the tools available to do their job.” “We just won the election nine days ago, so the work of building consensus around specific ideas really starts now,” she said. Across the aisle, State Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, who chaired the Assembly’s Energy and Utilities Committee last session, said his priorities for the next legislative session will focus on “regulatory reform” to reduce project approval times at the PSC. “Regulatory red tape creates unnecessary costs and lengthens project timelines,” he said in a statement to WPR. “Rightsizing the regulatory review process without sacrificing safety and reliability will produce savings that are real and long term.” Steffen added that he’s “confident” that both parties in the Legislature will “ be able to find a way to work together and develop a bipartisan plan” to protect the environment and ensure data centers pay their fair share. “It’s critical that Wisconsin ratepayers are protected and that data centers fully pay for their energy costs,” he said. Beyond data center regulations and limits on utility profits, Reeg said investments in clean energy generation, energy efficiency, electric home heating and electric vehicles could also lower household energy costs. “Investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, and building and transportation electrification could save households more than $2,800 by 2040,” she said. “But clean energy investments are not just an affordability strategy; they also deliver significant public health and economic benefits to the state.” Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board. 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