WILL and AFP-Wisconsin Unveil Energy Agenda for More Power, More Competition, and Lower Energy Costs

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) and Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin (AFP-WI) released “Building Wisconsin’s Energy Future: More Power, More Competition, Lower Costs,” a policy agenda to tackle rising electricity costs, strengthen reliability, and meet rapidly growing demand for power.

Wisconsin has lost its lead on affordable energy. In 1990, the state had the third-lowest residential electricity rates in the Midwest. Today, Wisconsin ranks second highest with electricity costing the average household roughly $1,400 annually. Between 2021 and 2026, state regulators approved approximately $2.2 billion in utility rate increases.

And the pressure is only growing. Wisconsin’s peak electricity demand is projected to rise roughly 40% by 2032. At the same time, utilities are planning to retire existing, reliable power plants while the regional grid faces growing reliability risks. The decisions Wisconsin makes now will shape electricity bills, grid reliability, and the state’s economic competitiveness for decades to come.

WILL Policy and Government Affairs Manager Sam Krebs, stated, “Families and businesses are paying some of the highest electricity prices in the Midwest. The status quo is not working. We need more competition and stronger oversight to keep bills down and make sure people have power when they need it.  This report lays out practical changes to meet Wisconsin’s growing energy needs while putting customers first.”

AFP-Wisconsin Legislative Director Jerry Ponio stated, “Wisconsin has a generational opportunity to advance bold reforms and lead the Rust Belt’s revival. As energy demand grows, states with reliable, affordable power will attract the next wave of jobs and investment. This agenda shows how Wisconsin can welcome new industry, contain rising energy costs, and protect families from footing the bill.”

Our Report’s Guiding Principles: Building Wisconsin’s Energy Future envisions an energy system that keeps household bills affordable, delivers dependable power, and supports economic growth. Meeting Wisconsin’s rising demand will require greater accountability for utilities and regulators, more opportunities for private investment, and strong protections for customers and property owners.

The report’s recommendations are built around six principles: affordable energy; reliable power; abundant supply; accountability; market-driven innovation; and private property protection. These principles put customer needs at the center of decisions about what gets built and who pays.

Key Recommendations Include:

• Allow large, new energy users to meet their own energy needs. Wisconsin should protect existing customers from the infrastructure costs of data centers by permitting them and other major customers to build or finance dedicated generation that matches their demand outside the traditional utility model.
• Link utility profits to affordability. Tie part of utilities’ authorized returns to cost performance, giving them stronger incentives to lower customer’s bills.
• Build reliable replacement power before retiring existing plants. Require equal or greater dependable generation to be operating before baseload plants close, and empower regulators to reject retirements that would raise costs or weaken reliability.
• Preserve competition for transmission projects.Reject proposals that give incumbent utilities exclusive rights to new, regional transmission projects. Competitive bidding on two recent Wisconsin projects produced winning bids nearly $300 million lower than the incumbent utilities’ proposals.
• Require energy proposals to show their full costs. Compare generation options using costs that include necessary backup power, storage, and transmission. Tie recovery of generation costs to the capacity customers can rely on during peak demand.
• Protect customers from unnecessary financing costs. Require utility projects to be operating before they earn a return, and expand refinancing options to reduce what customers continue paying on retired plants.
• Increase transparency and protect property rights. Require long-term utility plans focused on cost and reliability, publish clear permitting timelines, and give landowners a meaningful opportunity to challenge whether taking their property is necessary for a genuine public use.

What’s Next: WILL and AFP hope this agenda will serve as a starting point for a broader conversation about Wisconsin’s energy future and encourage lawmakers and the Public Service Commission to advance reforms that put customers first. Decisions made in the next several years will shape electricity bills and economic opportunity for decades. Wisconsin needs policies that deliver more power and keep costs under control.

Read the Report

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