PSC approves dangerous fossil fuel projects that undermine Wisconsin’s climate goals

Yesterday, a deeply concerning and dangerous decision was announced by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. The Commissioners approved WE Energies’ two methane gas plant proposals in southeastern Wisconsin. These projects will worsen climate change, exacerbate energy burden, and harm human health, pushing us further away from achieving Climate Justice. Please see our statement below.

“The people of Wisconsin placed their trust in the Public Service Commission, and we have been let down. The PSC’s decision to approve the Oak Creek and Paris methane gas proposals represents a major step in the wrong direction, and will severely impact public health and ratepayers’ bills, especially in marginalized communities. This is also a massive blow to our state’s ability to meet our long-term climate goals. We are extremely disappointed in the PSC, and we will continue to fight for environmental justice and a sustainable future for all.” – 350 Wisconsin

350 Wisconsin is a member of the Power Wisconsin Forward campaign, you can read the group’s statement and member organization quotes below.

POWER WISCONSIN FORWARD CONDEMNS PSC DECISION TO APPROVE $2 BILLION IN METHANE GAS PROJECTS

PSC decision undermines Wisconsinites’ health and financial well-being, and undermines Governor Tony Evers and the State’s commitment to 100% carbon free electricity by 2050.

MILWAUKEE – Power Wisconsin Forward, a statewide coalition of lean energy and environmental organizations, strongly condemed the Wisconsin Public Service Commissioners’ decision to approve We Energies’ proposals for new methane gas infrastructure in southeastern Wisconsin calling the decision a major step backward for the state’s clean energy future and to community’s health and wellbeing.

By a vote of 3-0, the PSC approved We Energies’ plans to build $2 billion of gas infrastructure, including:

Construction of a new methane gas plant at the Oak Creek Power Plant campus; and
Installation of seven methane gas Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) near the Paris Solar Farm in Kenosha County.

“This decision puts corporate profits above protecting the health of Wisconsin families, our environment, and our economy,” said Abby Novinska-Lois, Executive Director at Healthy Climate Wisconsin. “The PSC’s approval locks our state into decades of polluting fossil fuels at a time when we have cleaner, more affordable energy solutions available. These gas plants will make people sick, while increasing utility bills.”

“Though we had hoped for a different response from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin today, we knew this outcome was a possibility,” RENEW Wisconsin Deputy Director Jodi Jean Amble said. “This may feel like a setback for many of us in clean energy and environmental advocacy circles, but the work continues. We believe projects like Microsoft’s data center can and must be powered by clean energy going forward. The technology exists for us to create a future run on clean, reliable, and affordable energy.”

Power Wisconsin Forward maintains that the PSC’s approval overlooks critical issues in We Energies’ fillings, including:

The lack of a clear timeline for future energy needs from a high-demand user.
Sufficient justification for the proposed scale and duration of the energy that would need to be generated.

“This approval – by all three Commissioners – is especially concerning, as the utility failed to provide critical information about the expected timeline for increased energy demand from high-energy users, the specific amount of energy required, or the duration of that demand,” said Maria Chavez, Energy Analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Rather than demand accountability and clarity from a utility that presented a ‘business as usual’ proposal, the PSC greenlit projects with significant financial and environmental risks, even though data and expert testimony clearly signaled flaws with this approach.“

The PSC’s decision ignores and undercuts strong community opposition and compelling testimony from residents across the state – including Wisconsin businesses, local governments, environmental groups, faith leaders and community members. This consists of more than 600 individually written comments and personal testimonies on the Oak Creek Gas plant, with 94% of the responses being opposed to the project, and more than 500 written comments and testimonies for the Paris project, 95% of which were opposed.

“The Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s approval of two new methane gas plants is an outright betrayal of public trust,” said Bryan Rogers, Director at the Environmental Justice and Infrastructure Initiative. “The communities most impacted by energy burden, toxic emissions, and rising utility costs will remain locked into a polluted future they did not choose and cannot afford – a message we have delivered to the PSC loudly, clearly, consistently and legally. We resoundingly reject a future where so-called energy planning becomes a euphemism for fossil fuel expansion while frontline communities struggling for energy justice are sidelined..”

“While PSC Commissioner Strand noted ‘collaboration, community engagement and compromise’ as something she was looking for in the record, what the utility presented was capitulating, condescending and controlling,” said Cassie Steiner, Senior Campaign Coordinator, Sierra Club – Wisconsin Chapter. “The grassroots and intervenor presence in this record can’t be overstated, and sufficient weight wasn’t given to the feedback from the communities, physicians, businesses and legal parties who pointed out faults in what was presented.”

Power Wisconsin Forward and its partners will continue to serve as a watchdog for utilities to ensure they align with the state’s clean energy goals and the interests of Wisconsin’s communities.

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ABOUT POWER WISCONSIN FORWARD

Power Wisconsin Forward is organized on the foundational truth that methane gas infrastructure is bad for our people, planet and pocketbooks. Supported by the Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin (CECW) and its more than 50 partner organizations, the campaign is focused on educating Wisconsinites and activating change to enable a cleaner energy future for our state that creates jobs, builds energy reliability and saves people money. Learn more and get involved at www.powerwisconsinforward.com

QUOTES FROM POWER WISCONSIN FORWARD MEMBERS

The following statements were issued today in response to the Public Service Commission’s approval of We Energies’ methane gas plant proposals in the Town of Paris and the City of Oak Creek in southeastern Wisconsin.

Julia Alberth, Oak Creek Resident

“As a resident of Oak Creek and a public health professional, I am deeply disappointed by the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) decision to approve construction of a 1,100 MW methane gas plant in our community. By siding with We Energies and Microsoft, corporations that made $1.5 billion and $88 billion in net profit in 2024, the PSC has chosen corporate profit over the health and safety of parents, children, older adults, disabled residents and future generations. This plant will increase air pollution, exacerbate chronic disease and contribute to premature death, particularly in communities already burdened by health inequities. The PSC’s mission is to ensure safe, reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible utility services. By voting yes, the Commission has failed that mission and failed the people they are meant to serve.”

Heather Allen, WI Policy Director, Elevate

“Wisconsin’s energy bills are among the highest in the Midwest, and now these new methane gas projects will raise costs for local families and businesses who can’t afford to pay more. The Public Service Commission has a duty to protect rate payers from out of control energy costs, approving these expensive projects worsens the burden on our already strained budgets.”

Jodi Jean Amble, Deputy Director, RENEW Wisconsin

“The PSC’s decision to approve these methane gas plants represents an outdated solution to speculative energy demand. Wisconsin – and states across the country – are facing real challenges in planning for a changing electric grid. Electrification and the rapid growth of data centers are shifting demand, but we don’t yet have a clear picture of what that demand will be. We can’t afford to undermine our clean energy goals by investing in fossil fuel infrastructure that will lock in decades of emissions. This decision underscores the need for integrated resource planning, so we can avoid reactive choices and instead chart a thoughtful, strategic path to 100% clean energy.”

Jayne Black, Wisconsin Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force

“The decision by the Public Service Commission to approve the proposed methane gas power plants is a major blow for Wisconsinites and locks our state into decades of continued reliance on fossil fuels that have devastating impacts on our children. The air pollution from these power plants contributes to our changing climate and can negatively impact respiratory health especially for the 76,900 children who have asthma in our state. This is a time when we should be prioritizing cleaner air with more affordable clean energy solutions. Our children deserve clean air and a stable climate.”

Courtney Brady, Midwest Deputy Director, Evergreen Action

“This decision is a disappointing step backward for Wisconsin’s energy future. Approving these gas plants will put public health and energy affordability in harm’s way. They will lock Wisconsinites into higher energy bills and decades of unnecessary, dangerous pollution. This decision makes it clear that Wisconsin needs a stronger, more accountable energy planning process that puts people, not utilities, first.”

Antonio Butts, Executive Director, Walnut Way Conservation Corp.

“This decision by the PSC is not just a regulatory misstep – it’s a public health and environmental injustice. In neighborhoods like Lindsay Heights in Milwaukee, residents are already paying the highest percentage of their income on utilities – the most in the state. Approving new gas plants doubles down on systems that leave our communities sick and struggling to pay the bills – communities that are and have been eager to participate in implementing creative, sustainable solutions to the ecological and economic crises caused by corporate greed, greenlit time and again by the very regulatory agency tasked with protecting the public interest. We call on state leaders to stop rubber-stamping corporate profits and start centering community-driven clean-energy solutions that actually honor people and our shared planet.”

Maria Fernanda Chavez, Energy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists

“This decision from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to approve new methane gas plants in the Town of Paris and City of Oak Creek is incredibly disappointing. Research shared with the commission makes crystal clear the significant health and economic impacts the gas plant will have on a community that has already been harmed by years of coal pollution. We Energies has a responsibility to serve the energy needs of all its customers, not just the uncertain energy demand of one or two large corporations. As Wisconsin continues to court data center developers, decision-makers and utilities must prioritize the public’s best interest: clean and affordable energy that puts health over profits. We will continue to hold utilities accountable for future proposals that put people’s health and wallets at risk.

Molly Collins, Wisconsin Advocacy Director, American Lung Association

“Earlier this week, 28 national health organizations made a declaration: Climate change is a health emergency that is already harming health and causing loss of life. We need to do more, immediately, to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, because burning methane gas and other fossil fuels is driving climate change and making people sick from air pollution at the same time.”

Jennifer Giegerich, Government Affairs Director at Wisconsin Conservation Voters

“Many, many organizations and people have diligently and consistently asked the Wisconsin legislature to address the serious short-comings in our energy policy since 2005. It has been well-documented that the Republican-majority has refused to even have hearings on bills to provide necessary updates to our energy landscape. The PSC has more discretion than it exercises. To blame the consumer and health advocacy community for failures to advance meaningful policy in this legislature on the same day that the PSC approved massive fossil fuel investments for a single utility is beyond gross. The PSC needs to take responsibility and not lay blame elsewhere.”

John Imes, Cofounder & Director, Wisconsin Environmental Initiative

“Today’s unanimous decision by the PSC to approve We Energies’ methane gas plant proposals represents a missed opportunity for Wisconsin. Instead of investing in clean, affordable, job-creating energy solutions, we’re saddling communities with costly, unnecessary fossil fuel infrastructure that may be obsolete before it’s even paid off.

As someone who’s worked in business, sustainability, and government, I’ve seen the enormous potential clean energy has to boost competitiveness and reduce costs. Battery storage is now 90% cheaper than a decade ago. Hundreds of Wisconsin companies are part of the clean energy supply chain, and major employers like Microsoft are demanding carbon-free energy. But rather than modernize our grid or repurpose existing fossil fuel sites into clean energy hubs, we’re clinging to the past.

This decision ignores the strong public opposition, the health and environmental risks, and it’s Wisconsin ratepayers and communities who will pay the price. We can—and must—do better. The PSC should be leading with vision, not signing off on legacy infrastructure that undermines our climate goals and economic resilience.”

Dr. Brittany Keyes, DPT; Clean Air Policy Manager with Healthy Climate Wisconsin

“Per an unfortunate state statute, the WI DNR is the only regulatory agency that considers environmental and human harms of emissions and thus, protects our families and communities. The WI DNR must stand up now, fully consider the expansive health harms and deaths that will result from the pollution of these methane gas plants, and deny these air permits.”

Laura Lane, Wisconsin Outreach Director, Faith in Place

“We are deeply disappointed by the Public Service Commission’s decision to approve the new methane gas proposals in Paris and Oak Creek. This choice puts fossil fuels over families, locking our state into decades of pollution and rising energy costs. The PSC is backing outdated infrastructure, paid for by consumers, when what we need is a rapid and just transition to 100% renewable and affordable energy. Wisconsin communities—especially those most impacted—deserve all possible efforts at building a just, green economy. We urge our leaders to listen to the voices of residents, faith leaders and environmental advocates calling for a just, sustainable energy future.”

Emily Park, Co-Executive Director, 350 Wisconsin

“The people of Wisconsin placed their trust in the Public Service Commission, and we have been let down. The PSC’s decision to approve the Oak Creek and Paris methane gas proposals represents a major step in the wrong direction, and will severely impact public health and ratepayers’ bills, especially in marginalized communities. This is also a massive blow to our state’s ability to meet our long-term climate goals. We are extremely disappointed in the PSC, and we will continue to fight for environmental justice and a sustainable future for all.”

Bryan Rogers, Director, Environmental Justice & Infrastructure Initiative

“The Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s approval of two new methane gas plants is an outright betrayal of public trust. These are not investments in reliability – they are investments in disposability and organized abandonment. The communities most impacted by energy burden, toxic emissions, and rising utility costs will remain locked into a polluted future they did not choose and cannot afford – a message we have delivered to the PSC loudly, clearly, consistently and legally. We resoundingly reject a future where so-called energy planning becomes a euphemism for fossil fuel expansion while frontline communities struggling for energy justice are sidelined. Wisconsin deserves visionary climate leadership rooted in repair and renewables – not extraction, exploitation and environmental harm.”

Cassie Steiner, Senior Campaign Coordinator, Sierra Club – Wisconsin Chapter

“The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has a responsibility to protect the public from corporate polluters, and the Commissioners have severely failed in their decision to approve both the Paris and Oak Creek plants. By moving forward with these expensive, polluting fossil fuel projects, We Energies’ customers will be locked into higher rates and decades of air pollution. We’re not going to stop fighting for a clean energy future in Wisconsin.”

Hannah Sorensen, Public Health Professional in Milwaukee

“It is unacceptable that the PSC continues to side with We Energies, even when an overwhelming majority of the public expressed serious concerns about how these methane gas plants will harm their community’s health. The PSC’s job is to protect consumers, public health and the environment, and they are failing to do so.”

Langston Verdin, Founder & Co-Executive Director, MKE FreshAir Collective

“The Public Service Commission’s decision to greenlight two new methane gas plants is a reckless endorsement of outdated infrastructure that will burden Wisconsin communities with higher energy costs, poor air quality and a compromised future. At a moment when bold, community-centered climate action is not only possible but essential, the PSC chose corporate profits over public health, over environmental justice, and over the very people they are meant to protect. This decision ignores the will of the people, the evidence of harm and the urgency of the climate crisis — and it will be our most vulnerable neighbors who pay the highest price. Wisconsin deserves better.”

Sarah Zarling, CItizens Acting for Rail Safety

“These verdicts are disappointing and unsurprising. Although I commend each Commissioner’s remarks of appreciating the opposing comments, I believe some of their other thoughts and remarks prove a few very key things: Anyone employed or appointed in a role like this should be more educated in the matters on which they are voting. In addition, the WI DNR plays an equally important role in how these projects are voted for, as well as their own industry leaning votes, and must be held accountable as well. We must continue educating ourselves and others and showing up to make our voices heard.

I do hope that these permit decisions and accompanying discussions can be the beginning of a more well-rounded discussion to foster much needed better understanding of the issues at hand, to hopefully ensure more informed voting outcomes in the future.”