News of the Day April 27, 2026
PSC Overhauls We Energies’ Data Center Tariff, Makes Improvements to Protect Existing Customers

Last Friday, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) took up We Energies’ Very Large Customer (VLC) and Bespoke Resources Tariff application and issued a decision that protects existing customers and improves public transparency into the energy-related costs data centers will pay.

Utility tariffs set the rates, terms, and conditions of service utilities provide to customers within their service territory. When a utility wants to create a new tariff or make changes to an existing tariff, it must receive PSC approval to do so because the PSC regulates electric, gas, and water utilities in Wisconsin. The Commission does not regulate the permitting, construction, or operations of data center facilities.

In March 2025, We Energies submitted an application proposing the new tariffs in response to large data center customers entering the utility’s service territory. The PSC conducted a thorough, year-long review of the tariff application, which included detailed scrutiny and analysis by PSC staff and intervening parties, and a robust public engagement process. 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.

In its decision, the Commission made major modifications to improve the tariff. The following is a non-exhaustive list of actions taken to strengthen protections for We Energies’ existing customers and increase transparency and visibility:

• The Commission extended the VLC tariff minimum initial term length to 15 years. This change prevents cost-shifting to existing customers.
• The Commission lowered the energy demand threshold for tariff eligibility from 500 MW to 100 MW. This change expands tariff applicability to smaller data centers, which further shields existing customers from data center-related costs.
• The Commission required tariff revisions to address the risk of transmission cost shifting from data center customers to existing customers.
• The Commission removed a capacity-only option that would have allowed data centers to only pay for 75% of the costs of generating facilities. The removal of this capacity-only option and the approval of the Full-Benefits resource model protects existing customers by requiring the VLCs to pay 100% of their costs.
• The Commission ordered additional reporting requirements to provide visibility into how the tariffs work in practice and created a mechanism for the Commission to make future adjustments if needed.
• The Commission ordered additional reporting requirements to bring greater transparency to agreements between the utility and its VLCs.

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.