We Energies replacement; Milwaukee leaders discuss public power plan
Milwaukee leaders discuss replacing We Energies
Milwaukee leaders discussed a proposal on Wednesday, June 24, to replace We Energies with a municipally owned utility, while the company said the plan would cost billions.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee leaders discussed a proposal Wednesday, June 24, that would explore replacing We Energies with a city-run utility model.
Public power proposal discussed
What we know:
The day started with a rally outside City Hall, followed by a Public Transportation, Utilities and Waterways Review Board public hearing where multiple people spoke in support of the proposal.
The proposal would use Chapter 197 of Wisconsin state statutes to replace We Energies with a municipally owned utility. Supporters said the change would improve reliability and lower rates.
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No vote was taken Wednesday. The hearing was for a communication file.
There is no date set yet for if or when the next hearing could happen.
Different sides
What they're saying:
Aldermen Bob Bauman and Alex Brower support the proposal, citing rising costs for customers. Brower has said We Energies increased its rates by 25% over the last four years.
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"We’re saying we have had enough with rate increases – enough with AI data centers. We Energies has doubled and tripled down on AI data centers and support for AI data centers, so we are just frankly sick of it," Brower said.
A spokesperson for We Energies said the utility was not invited to the meeting and said it would cost the city billions of dollars to take over.
"I think, again, it just shows how out of touch and radical this plan was. A lot of things were said today, but they weren’t based on facts," We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said. "What we want customers to know is we have been serving Milwaukee for more than 125 years, and we will continue to do that."
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Officer of Alderman Alex Bower.