Illinois judges move to halve WEC's gas rate hike as its $37.5 billion data-center build rolls on
Administrative law judges have recommended giving Peoples Gas $66.2 million of the $144 million increase it seeks, with Illinois' final ruling due in mid-November. Parent WEC Energy Group has promised investors 7 to 8 percent annual earnings growth through 2030 on a $37.5 billion construction plan aimed largely at data centers.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Chicago is already behind on the gas bill
More than 160,000 Chicago families are at least 30 days behind on their Peoples Gas bills, owing the utility more than $90 million 1. Peoples Gas, the city's gas utility and a unit of Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group−0.73% — WEC Energy Group, down 0.73 percent today, asked the Illinois Commerce Commission for $202 million in January; on October 6, two of its administrative law judges recommended approving $66.2 million, a 54 percent cut to the utility's revised $144 million request 23. That request would have added roughly $6 to $8 a month to household bills 3. WEC earned about $1.6 billion last year 4.
Judges would hand Peoples Gas less than a third of its January ask
- Peoples Gas rate increase
- Estimate
Data
| Peoples Gas rate increase | |
|---|---|
| January filing | $202M |
| July revised ask | $144M |
| Judges' 6 Oct order (estimate) | $66.2M |
The growth engine runs on data centers
We Energies, WEC's Wisconsin utility, has filed preliminary plans for the Fox North Energy Center, a 750-megawatt gas plant in Wrightstown, with no construction cost estimate; environmental groups count it as the state's seventh gas proposal in about two years 56. A draft state report projects electricity demand up 40 percent by 2032 on three large data-center projects, with gas supplying about half of Wisconsin generation 56. The utility is also paying more than $2 billion for two Invenergy gas projects totaling roughly 1,500 megawatts 5.
WEC has reaffirmed 2026 guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 a share and targets 7 to 8 percent annual growth through 2030 on a $37.5 billion five-year capital plan 78. About 15 percent of its 2030 asset base is earmarked for very large customers, its term for data-center-scale loads: Microsoft's+0.55% — Microsoft, up 0.55 percent today Mount Pleasant campus, forecast at 2.6 gigawatts through 2030, and Vantage Data Centers' Oracle+2.08% — Oracle, up 2.08 percent today-backed Port Washington site, 1.3 gigawatts in the forecast with room for 3.5 7.
WEC's profit keeps grinding higher as the data-center build accelerates
Data
| Quarterly net income | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $0.32B |
| Q4 '23 | $0.22B |
| Q1 '24 | $0.62B |
| Q2 '24 | $0.21B |
| Q3 '24 | $0.24B |
| Q4 '24 | $0.45B |
| Q1 '25 | $0.73B |
| Q2 '25 | $0.25B |
| Q3 '25 | $0.27B |
| Q4 '25 | $0.32B |
| Q1 '26 | $0.81B |
| Q2 '26 | $0.3B |
Who pays for the wires is the whole fight
Wisconsin's own Public Service Commission told federal regulators in August that current transmission rates would shift about $441 million of Mount Pleasant's wiring cost onto other ratepayers 7. WEC's pending Wisconsin rate cases request a 9.9 percent return on equity; dedicated data-center resources earn 10.48 to 10.98 percent under the state's new large-customer tariff, which demands 15-year contracts and financial security, a structure WEC says shields ordinary customers 78.
We Energies says Fox North will meet growing demand and improve grid reliability 5; Peoples Gas calls its pipe replacement work "a binding safety mandate" 4. Clean Wisconsin's Ciaran Gallagher says the gas rush is "fueled by this data center craze" 10.
Three dates decide the first round: Illinois' final order in mid-November 1, Wisconsin rate decisions by year-end 8, and WEC's October 29 earnings call, where the capital and financing plan gets refreshed 7. Every gigawatt of data center comes with a bill attached, and the question in both states is whose mailbox it lands in.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
