This Could Be Milwaukee. Speak Now.
- The Way
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
File a comment with the Public Service Commission.
Come to the hearing in Milwaukee on Tuesday, September 1.
What the video shows
Five big data centers are planned in this state. Two of them are about an hour from Milwaukee, in opposite directions. Port Washington and Mount Pleasant are each asking for about a gigawatt. Our utility wants to add three new gigawatts to the grid for demand that has not arrived yet.
Somebody pays for that. Right now that somebody is you.
Everything We Energies does, you pay for it. When they advertise, you pay for it. When they donate, you pay for it. When they use lawyers, you pay for it.
What is on the table
We Energies asked to raise electric rates in 2027 and 2028. By the utility's own numbers, a typical home pays about $13 more a month starting January 1, 2027, and about $9 more on top of that in 2028. That would be the sixth increase since 2020.
Milwaukee's Common Council voted to oppose it.
Nothing is decided yet. Three commissioners decide it for all of Wisconsin. They have to read what you send.
What to ask for
Last fiscal year about 190,000 Wisconsin households needed help paying energy bills. Wisconsin still has no program that ties your bill to what you earn. Ohio has one. We do not.
A Milwaukee lawmaker proposed capping a household energy bill at 2 percent of income. The state is studying the idea. Say you want it.
Three things you can say in your comment:
No increase. We cannot carry a sixth one.
Cap my bill at a share of my income.
Data centers should pay their own costs, not shift them to my bill.
Two or three sentences counts. Your own words count more than ours.
File a comment
Docket 5-UR-112. Comments close Friday, September 18.
File your comment on the state record here: Public Service Commission comment form, docket 5-UR-112
If the form gives you trouble, call 414-260-2243 and we will walk you through it.
Tuesday, September 1 in Milwaukee
Buses load 10:30 a.m. — 1617 W North Avenue
Rally 11:30 a.m. — We Energies, 231 W Michigan Street. Tell us you are coming
Hearings 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. — Marquette Alumni Memorial Union, Ballrooms B and E, 1442 W Wisconsin Avenue. RSVP for the hearing
Cannot get downtown? Join the hearing on Zoom, or call +1 312 626 6799 and enter meeting ID 809 513 2930. You can speak from your kitchen.
You can speak at either hearing. You do not need to prepare anything. You can also just show up and be counted.
Ride, childcare, or help writing your comment: 414-260-2243.
Who is doing this with us
We are the Wisconsin Ecojustice Base Builders — neighbors, congregations, and organizations across this state doing this work together. See who we are
Walnut Way Conservation Corp, 1617 W North Avenue, Milwaukee. 414-264-2326.
Source video is not ours. Notes added by Walnut Way.
Become a Wisconsin Ecojustice Base Builder: Base Builder sign-up form
Comments