IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
Number
251889
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. DIMITRIJEVIC, STAMPER, BAUMAN AND BROWER
Title
Resolution expressing opposition to the Wisconsin Electric Power Company proposal before the Public Service Commission.
Analysis
This resolution expresses opposition to the Wisconsin Electric Power Company’s current proposal before the Public Service Commission. Further, the resolution advocates that large data center customers pay 100% of all incremental and fixed costs required to serve them, that enforceable, long-term protections be in place so Wisconsin ratepayers are not left responsible if data center plans change or demand falls, and that the electricity use threshold that triggers these protections be set low enough to prevent avoidance by data center operators.
Body
Whereas, The Wisconsin Electric Power Company has requested that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approve a proposal that would establish a very large customer and bespoke resources tariff system, in the context of providing electricity to customers such as data centers; and
Whereas, The Executive Director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin has identified aspects of the proposal that put average customers at risk of paying additional costs to support the electricity and infrastructure needs of large data centers; and
Whereas, A utility auditor for the Public Service Commission testified that, under the terms of the proposal, if a data center uses less power than expected or terminates service early, average customers could be charged for plant and fuel costs associated with the data center; and
Whereas, A utility financial analyst for the Public Service Commission testified that the proposed 10-year term of the tariff would not recover all long-term costs that a data center may cause the utility to incur; and
Whereas, The proposal sets the tariff eligibility threshold at 500 megawatts of forecasted annual electric load; and
Whereas, Data centers described as “hyperscale” are being built elsewhere that are forecasted to consume less energy annually than the proposed threshold; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City of Milwaukee is opposed to the very large customer and bespoke resources tariff proposal that the Wisconsin Electric Power Company has submitted to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City of Milwaukee advocates that large data center customers should pay 100% of all incremental and fixed costs required to serve them, including generation capacity, operations and maintenance, and fuel costs attributable to serving the data center load; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City of Milwaukee advocates that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin adopt enforceable, long-term protections such as binding service agreements aligned with the life of new infrastructure, exit and termination charges, and other safeguards so Wisconsin ratepayers are not left responsible if data center plans change or demand falls; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the City of Milwaukee advocates that the annual electricity use threshold that defines a “very large customer” and triggers the requirement to pay 100% of all incremental and fixed costs required to serve them be set low enough to prevent avoidance by data center operators.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB181458-1
Dave Gelting
February 26, 2026