News

Newsweek recently announced their list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America – for the third year in a row, Alliant Energy was included. This prestigious award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider.

The Most Trustworthy Companies in America 2024 have been chosen based on a holistic approach to evaluating trust. The three main public pillars of trust were considered: customer trust, investor trust, and employee trust.

Statista conducted an analysis involving three key steps: defining the market by focusing on US-based companies with revenues exceeding $500 million, conducting an extensive survey with approximately 25,000 US residents who rated companies based on the three main public pillars of trust, resulting in 97,000 evaluations and employing social listening to monitor over 523,000 mentions of companies across various online media segments to assess sentiment.

WEC Energy Group has agreed to acquire a ninety percent ownership interest in the Delilah I Solar Energy Center.in Texas.

Delilah I is a 300-megawatt project located approximately 140 miles northeast of Dallas. The project was developed and built by Invenergy — a leading global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions. Commercial operation is expected to begin by the end of June.

Delilah I will generate renewable energy under a long-term power purchase agreement with a global automaker. WEC Energy Group's investment is expected to total $459 million for the 90% ownership interest.

"The Delilah Solar project is an exciting addition to our Infrastructure business and highlights our continued investment in affordable, reliable and clean energy. This project will help one of the world's largest automakers meet their clean energy goals for years to come," said Gale Klappa, Executive Chairman.

MGE Energy has reported financial results for the first quarter of 2024. Earnings for the first quarter of 2024 were $33.8 million, or $0.93 per share, compared to $31.1 million, or $0.86 per share for the same period in the prior year.

In the first quarter of 2024, electric net income increased $2.5 million compared to the first quarter of 2023. The first-quarter results were primarily driven by an increase in investments included in rate base.

Despite having one of the warmest February months on record, gas net income in the first quarter of 2024 remained relatively flat compared to the first quarter of 2023.

For the second consecutive year, VETS Indexes recognized Alliant Energy as a 3 Star Employer. The award recognizes the organization’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing and supporting veterans and the military-connected community.

“The diligent efforts of Alliant Energy to hire, retain and support veterans and the military-connected community have earned the organization a highly coveted VETS Indexes Employer Award,” said George Altman, president of VETS Indexes. “Even with hundreds of employers in the running, Alliant Energy demonstrated a strong dedication to veteran employment. Congratulations to Alliant Energy on this achievement!”

For the second consecutive year, VETS Indexes has recognized Alliant Energy as a 3 Star Employer. The award recognizes the organization’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing and supporting veterans and the military-connected community.

“The diligent efforts of Alliant Energy to hire, retain and support veterans and the military-connected community have earned the organization a highly coveted VETS Indexes Employer Award,” said George Altman, president of VETS Indexes. “Even with hundreds of employers in the running, Alliant Energy demonstrated a strong dedication to veteran employment. Congratulations to Alliant Energy on this achievement!” 

Alliant Energy works proactively to match veteran candidates with available career opportunities and supports the personal and professional development of veterans through an employee-driven Veterans Alliance resource group. Additionally, veterans in the craft trades have benefited from the thousands of local construction jobs and new training opportunities spurred by the company’s recent energy investments. 

“It’s an honor to be recognized as a 3 Star Employer by VETS Indexes,” said Diane Cooke, vice president and chief human resource officer at Alliant Energy. “The unique skills, training and dedication veterans bring to our team helps us deliver the energy solutions and exceptional service customers and communities count on – safely, efficiently and responsibly. We’re proud to support our veterans and deliver on our purpose-driven strategy to serve customers and build stronger communities.”

Alliant Energy is aware of and has reviewed the recently published 2023 IQAir report, in which Beloit, Wisconsin, is identified as the most polluted city in the U.S. Recent media coverage of the report inaccurately states that Alliant Energy’s Riverside and West Riverside Energy Center plays a significant impact in the air quality of Beloit, Wisconsin. The media reports are simply not fact. Many factors impact air quality – and, in the summer of 2023, Canadian wildfires significantly impacted air quality across the Midwest and much of the nation, as stated by the 2023 IQAir report, but omitted from most of the media coverage.  

Alliant Energy is committed to complying with all environmental requirements and operates its assets in a manner that is protective of the air quality standards established by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and approved operational permits. In fact, prior to its construction, Alliant Energy’s West Riverside facility was required to, and did obtain, air pollution control permits to construct and operate the facility in accordance with the federal and state requirements.  Alliant Energy supports transparency and reports its compliance status with these requirements to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) semi-annually.   

In contrast to the stringent guidelines set in place by the EPA and WDNR, the 2023 IQAir report is created by third-party public monitors for which quality assurance is limited, nor is oversight provided by state or federal regulators. Alliant Energy has a long and positive partnership with the City of Beloit. Prior to the Energy Center’s construction, several listening sessions and open houses were conducted in the surrounding community to enhance engagement and awareness of the plant’s features and impacts. 

The generating station was designed to be efficient and flexible to compliment significant renewable energy resources and, with sustainability in mind to promote community, environmental and economic benefits. It has received several awards and recognitions including an Envision Platinum award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure– the highest attainable Envision recognition level.  

Xcel Energy’s Wisconsin and Michigan operating company, Northern States Power-Wisconsin, is commemorating 100 years of service to the communities it serves and reaffirming its dedication to powering customers’ homes and businesses while leading the clean energy transition.

The company’s journey began when Northern States Power Company of Minnesota purchased the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company which had recently completed construction of the Wissota Hydroelectric Project. The newly acquired company, with headquarters that moved from La Crosse to Eau Claire, was renamed Northern States Power-Wisconsin on April 7, 1924.  

“Over the last century, our company has worked with our customers and communities through challenges like the Great Depression, World War II, the “Big Wind” of 1980, numerous natural disasters, recessions and the pandemic – to name a few,” according to Karl Hoesly, President, NSP-Wisconsin. “It hasn’t always been easy, but our ability to adapt, evolve and thrive while staying true to our core values is a point of immense pride.”  

Throughout its history, the company expanded by offering natural gas service and through acquisitions and mergers to include customers in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, further strengthening its reach.

Since 2000, the company has been known as Xcel Energy, and today serves 250,000 electricity and 114,000 natural gas customers in northwestern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is one of four operating companies under the Xcel Energy family that serves 3.7 million of electricity and 2.1 million natural gas customers across eight Midwestern and Western states.

In 2018, Xcel Energy was the first utility in the nation to set a bold vision to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 and provide customers with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. With a steadfast commitment to providing reliable and affordable energy service, Xcel Energy and its employees champion economic development, charitable giving and volunteerism throughout the communities it serves.

“We are incredibly thankful for the strong relationships and support from the more than 500 communities we serve,” said Hoesly. “We find value in connecting with and managing the energy needs of our customers and communities, towns, and working side-by side to help our Wisconsin and Michigan communities prosper – we look forward to doing that for another 100 years.

A solar farm in the Town of Saratoga has installed six new houses for some neighbors to move in, but they’re for birds, not humans.

Goose is an American Kestrel. It’s a species of falcon often confused for mourning doves. Goose, along with Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research, has been working with Alliant Energy to install nesting boxes for kestrels at the Wood County Solar Project in the Town of Saratoga.

“They are cavity nesters and if you put up a cavity for them to nest in, they will use it if the habitat is suitable,” said Amber Eschenbauch, cofounder of the Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research Program.

Six new bird boxes were put in with help from Nekoosa eighth-grade tech ed students who have been working on the project for a year.

The US Department of Justice has sided with a Native American tribe in claiming a massive underground pipeline carrying fuel from Wisconsin to Canada is trespassing on tribal lands.

In an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, DOJ lawyers agreed with the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians in arguing that Enbridge Energy Company, is "liable for trespass" due to its operation of Line 5, a pipeline that moves millions of gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids each day between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario,

Roughly 12 miles of Line 5 cross into the Reservation of the Bad River Band in northern Wisconsin, and the pipeline was constructed along "rights-of-way" obtained by the Department of Interior in the 1950s and renewed multiple times over the following decades. Enbridge’s rights-of-way for 12 parcels of land that are at the center of the lawsuit expired in 2013, and the tribe did not consent to their renewal. After the tribe sued in 2019, the Department of Interior denied the energy company’s request for renewal in 2020.

Wisconsin’s Energies and WPS are requesting about $800 million in rate increases over the next two years. The companies have filed applications with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to increase electric and gas rates in 2025 and 2026. We Energies has increased electric rates each year since 2019, following four years when rates fell slightly. We Energies’ says electric rates went up by 9.2 percent in 2023 and 2.3 percent this year.

We Energies hopes to increase electric rates by 6.9 percent in 2025 and 4.6 percent in 2026.  It has also requested increases for both of the gas utilities it owns. One of the gas utilities would increase rates by ten percent next year and 5.1 percent by 2026. The other asked to increase rates by 8.2 percent in 2025 and 3.6 percent in 2026. We Energies’ steam utility in downtown Milwaukee also asked for an 8.4 percent rate hike in 2025, but no increase in 2026.

Wisconsin Public Service is requesting an 8.5 percent electric rate increase in 2025 and a 4.9 percent increase in 2026. WPS also requested gas rate increases of 6.8 percent next year and 3.9 percent in 2026.

If approved, a typical residential We Energies customer’s electric bills could rise between $10 and $11 per month in 2025 and between $7 and $8 in 2026, the utility estimates. A typical residential WPS customer’s electric bill could rise by between $10 and $12 a month next year and between $5 and $6 the following year.