WPS, We Energies electric rate increases approved

By Thomas Content
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Electricity bills will soon rise for customers of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service Corp., which received permission this morning to raise rates because of the soaring price of natural gas.

The Public Service Commission endorsed a We Energies proposal to raise power prices by $42 million. This follows an increase of nearly $77 million in April for the Milwaukee electric and natural gas utility.

The new increase will translate to a surcharge of $1.28 a month for the typical residential customer now paying nearly $88 a month. We Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WEC), has 1.1 million electricity customers and is the largest utility in the state.

Under an agreement We Energies reached with customer groups, the utility will refund, with interest, any extra money it collects for fuel if fuel prices decline in the second half of the year.

Boosted in part by the rising price of crude oil, the futures price of natural gas has surged in to its highest point since December 2004. Natural gas is a fuel used in some power plants and in power utilities buy through a Midwest regional wholesale energy market.

Wisconsin Public Service, a Green Bay subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group Inc. (TEG), was granted an increase of $18 million, on top of a nearly $30 million authorized in March. WPS has 420,000 electricity customers, primarily in northeast and northern Wisconsin.