Above video: Houston-based real estate developer responds to data center proposal concerns in northeast Wisconsin
(WFRV) – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) announced Friday that it made changes to We Energies’ Very Large Customer (VLC) and Bespoke Resources tariff application.
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According to the release, the decision ‘protects existing customers and improves public transparency into the energy-related costs data centers will pay,’ by shifting the costs of any data centers onto tech companies.
The release said that in March 2025, We Energies submitted a tariff proposal in response to data center customers entering the service territory, prompting a year-long PSC review.
“Throughout the proceeding, members of the public and participating organizations raised concerns about aspects of the utility’s application and how it could impact existing customers,” the PSC release said.
The PSC’s decision on Friday included the following modifications to the tariff, which it says will strengthen protections for We Energies’ customer base and increase transparency:
- Extended the VLC tariff minimum initial term length to 15 years
- Energy demand threshold for tariff eligibility from 500 MW to 100 MW
- Required tariff revisions to ‘address the risk of transmission cost shifting from data center customers to existing customers’
The PSC also removed a capacity-only option, which, according to the release, would’ve allowed data centers to only pay for 75% of the costs of generating facilities. According to the release, this removal requires VLCs to pay 100% of the costs.
Another piece of the commission’s decision on Friday included additional reporting requirements that are designed to provide visibility into how the tariffs work and create a pathway for future adjustments if needed.
“If the Commission had denied We Energies’ application, and/or a new very large customer tariff was not established, large data centers would receive utility service without conditions specifically designed to safeguard existing customers from data-center-related costs,” the release said.
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Commissioner Kristy Nieto cited a need to protect customers.
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“We need to do everything within our jurisdiction to make sure data center customers will pay their own way, fully and transparently and other customers will be held harmless,” Nieto said via the release.
The full meeting is available here, while the full text of the release can be viewed here or in the file viewer below.
