Rising utility costs are forcing residents to make difficult trade-offs between their health and financial well-being. Families are paying the price for decisions that prioritize shareholders and fossil fuel expansion over affordability and reliability. It’s time to shine a light on how We Energies’ practices impact affordability, reliability, and equity for Wisconsin residents.
Impact on Rising Utility Rates for Wisconsin
Rising utility costs are forcing residents to make difficult trade-offs between their health and financial well-being. Families are paying the price for decisions that prioritize shareholders and fossil fuel expansion over affordability and reliability. It’s time to shine a light on how We Energies’ practices impact affordability, reliability, and equity for Wisconsin residents.
In an event on November 1, community leaders, advocates, and Milwaukee-area residents came together for a conversation to review We Energies’ past practices and empower residents to take action for a fair, sustainable energy future.
As part of the discussion, many showcased how families are being forced to make sacrifices to keep the lights on in their homes. During the event, attendees announced plans to conduct an independent community audit of We Energies — dubbed the proposed “People’s Audit” — calling on the monopoly utility to disclose its rate practices, service reliability and impact on Milwaukee residents.
Our Power, Our Future: Holding We Energies Accountable
In an event on November 1, community leaders, advocates, and Milwaukee-area residents came together for a conversation to review We Energies’ past practices and empower residents to take action for a fair, sustainable energy future.
As part of the discussion, many showcased how families are being forced to make sacrifices to keep the lights on in their homes. During the event, attendees announced plans to conduct an independent community audit of We Energies — dubbed the proposed “People’s Audit” — calling on the monopoly utility to disclose its rate practices, service reliability and impact on Milwaukee residents.
What is The People’s Audit?
The People’s Audit will seek to increase transparency about We Energies’ financial and operational practices and empower Milwaukee residents to have a voice in their energy future. The proposed audit’s findings would inform city and state leaders’ advocacy for stronger, fairer policies that uplift all Wisconsinites.
The proposed audit will look to analyze We Energies’ financial and operational practices, specifically its rate increases, massive profits, and the environmental and health impacts of building more fossil-fuel plants. Aspects of the audit would include:
What is The People’s Audit?
The People’s Audit will seek to increase transparency about We Energies’ financial and operational practices and empower Milwaukee residents to have a voice in their energy future. The proposed audit’s findings would inform city and state leaders’ advocacy for stronger, fairer policies that uplift all Wisconsinites.
The proposed audit will look to analyze We Energies’ financial and operational practices, specifically its rate increases, massive profits, and the environmental and health impacts of building more fossil-fuel plants. Aspects of the audit would include:
Understanding the scope, distribution, and equity impacts of shutoffs and arrears in Milwaukee.
Assessing how rates and bills have changed by class, usage and geography to compare Milwaukee’s rates to three peer cities in the Midwest.
Evaluating outage frequency and duration, identify worst-performing circuits and measure whether resilience investments align with need.
Documenting current and future generation mix, capital plans, emissions and financial risks affecting Milwaukee ratepayers.
The call for this proposed audit comes after We Energies has continuously raised energy prices for Milwaukee residents, including seven rate increase requests over the last 12 years. Notably, the utility will realize a 9% increase in rates in 2025 and an 8% increase in 2026.
The utility has also been supportive of the construction of large-scale data centers, which are projected to use more electricity than all residential homes in Wisconsin. In a news release issued days before the event, WEC, parent company of We Energies, also reported rising profits.
The call for this proposed audit comes after We Energies has continuously raised energy prices for Milwaukee residents, including seven rate increase requests over the last 12 years. Notably, the utility will realize a 9% increase in rates in 2025 and an 8% increase in 2026.
The utility has also been supportive of the construction of large-scale data centers, which are projected to use more electricity than all residential homes in Wisconsin. In a news release issued days before the event, WEC, parent company of We Energies, also reported rising profits.