--- title: "Illinois judges move to halve WEC's gas rate hike as its $37.5 billion data-center build rolls on" description: "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." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-10-15T23:18:40.886Z modified: 2026-10-15T23:18:40.886Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/illinois-judges-move-to-halve-wec-s-gas-rate-hike-as-its-37-5-billion-data-center-build-rolls-on language: en keywords: "Utilities, Data Centers, Regulation, Natural Gas, Rate Hikes" --- # 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. ## 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](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/wec-energy-group), asked the Illinois Commerce Commission [for $202 million in January](https://suburbanchicagoland.com/2026/10/07/cub-urges-state-regulators-to-lower-peoples-gas-rate-hike-of-66-million/); on October 6, [two of its administrative law judges recommended approving $66.2 million](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/07/peoples-gas-rate-increase-icc/), a 54 percent cut to the utility's revised $144 million request [2][3]. That request would have added roughly $6 to $8 a month to household bills [3]. WEC earned about $1.6 billion last year [4]. *Chart: **Judges would hand Peoples Gas less than a third of its January ask** Column chart comparing Peoples Gas' January rate increase request, its July revised request, and the October administrative law judges' recommendation* *Requested revenue increases and the recommended allowance, in millions of dollars; the October figure is a proposed order pending the Illinois Commerce Commission's final ruling. Sources: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Citizens Utility Board. [2][3][4]* ## The growth engine runs on data centers We Energies, WEC's Wisconsin utility, has filed [preliminary plans for the Fox North Energy Center](https://www.wpr.org/news/we-energies-plans-new-750mw-natural-gas-plant-in-fox-valley), 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 [5][6]. 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 [5][6]. 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](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000783325) and targets 7 to 8 percent annual growth through 2030 on a $37.5 billion five-year capital plan [7][8]. About 15 percent of its 2030 asset base is earmarked for very large customers, its term for data-center-scale loads: [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft)'s Mount Pleasant campus, forecast at 2.6 gigawatts through 2030, and Vantage Data Centers' [Oracle](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/oracle)-backed Port Washington site, 1.3 gigawatts in the forecast with room for 3.5 [7]. *Chart: **WEC's profit keeps grinding higher as the data-center build accelerates** Column chart of WEC Energy Group quarterly net income from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, seasonal but rising year over year* *Quarterly GAAP net income attributable to common shareholders, in billions of dollars, Q3 2023 to Q2 2026. Source: WEC Energy Group SEC filings. [9]* ## 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 [7][8]. 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"](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/10/11/we-energies-plans-another-natural-gas-plant-this-one-in-fox-valley/) [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. ## Takeaway Illinois' mid-November order and Wisconsin's year-end rate decisions will decide whose mailbox the bill for WEC's $37.5 billion data-center buildout lands in. ## Sources 1. [WTTW News, "Consumer Advocates Push Back on Proposed Peoples Gas Rate Hike", 8 October 2026](https://news.wttw.com/2026/10/08/consumer-advocates-push-back-proposed-peoples-gas-rate-hike) 2. [Chicago Tribune, "ICC judges recommend slashing proposed $144 million Peoples Gas rate increase by more than half", 7 October 2026](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/07/peoples-gas-rate-increase-icc/) 3. [Suburban Chicagoland (Citizens Utility Board), "CUB urges State Regulators to lower Peoples Gas rate hike of $66 million", 7 October 2026](https://suburbanchicagoland.com/2026/10/07/cub-urges-state-regulators-to-lower-peoples-gas-rate-hike-of-66-million/) 4. [Chicago Sun-Times, "Peoples Gas rate hike should be cut in half, ICC regulatory judges say", 8 October 2026](https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2026/10/08/peoples-gas-rate-hike-icc-regulatory-judges-recommendation) 5. [Wisconsin Public Radio, "We Energies plans new 750MW natural gas plant in Fox Valley", 9 October 2026](https://www.wpr.org/news/we-energies-plans-new-750mw-natural-gas-plant-in-fox-valley) 6. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "We Energies plans new natural gas plant as data centers drive demand", 2 October 2026](https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2026/10/02/we-energies-new-natural-gas-plant-in-outagamie-county/92060505007/) 7. [Rackline, "WEC Energy second-quarter EPS rises to $0.91; 2026 guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 reaffirmed", earnings materials dated 29 July 2026, collected 15 October 2026](https://www.rackline.news/earnings/report/bqo55p) 8. [The Globe and Mail (TipRanks), "WEC Energy Group Leans Into Data Center-Fueled Growth", 6 May 2026](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/WEC/pressreleases/1758487/wec-energy-group-leans-into-data-center-fueled-growth/) 9. [WEC Energy Group quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026 via company_series](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000783325) 10. [Urban Milwaukee (Wisconsin Public Radio), "We Energies Plans Another Natural Gas Plant, This One in Fox Valley", 11 October 2026](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/10/11/we-energies-plans-another-natural-gas-plant-this-one-in-fox-valley/) --- Illinois judges move to halve WEC's gas rate hike as its $37.5 billion data-center build rolls on — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/illinois-judges-move-to-halve-wec-s-gas-rate-hike-as-its-37-5-billion-data-center-build-rolls-on