News of the Day

A Wisconsin ratepayer advocacy group says We Energies’ proposed “very large customer” rate for data centers could shield other customers from cost increases, though it’s calling for several changes to the plan.

Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Tom Content yesterday weighed in on the utility company’s proposal during a panel discussion at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee.

“With some changes, we think … this whole plan could live up to the goal of paying your own way,” Content said, referring to claims made by data center operators that they will cover the cost of energy and related infrastructure needed to power their operations.

He pointed to “a few loopholes” in the plan, arguing state regulators need to address them in order to truly protect customers.

“The financial guarantees in case things go sideways need to be stronger,” he said. “We think that the tech companies should be responsible for contracts that are longer than 10 years. We think the proposal should apply to smaller data centers than the very large 500 megawatt threshold the utility chose.”

Meanwhile, WEC Energy Group Senior Corporate Counsel Kate Phillips yesterday said the We Energies parent company has already adjusted its plan after getting “a lot of feedback” from CUB and others. The plan is currently before the state Public Service Commission, and Phillips said the company is hoping to get a decision “fairly quickly” by the state agency.

“I think that we’ve listened to those concerns and we’ve made some changes as a result of that,” she said.

The Milwaukee-based utility began developing this plan when Microsoft announced its data center plans in southeastern Wisconsin. Its goal is to avoid “cost-shifting” to other customers and ensure the very large customers — namely, data centers — would pay for generation, transmission and distribution for these energy-intensive facilities in the state, according to Phillips.

Along with the VLC rate, We Energies is proposing a dedicated resource rate under which data centers would have to subscribe to dedicated generation resources as a condition of service, she explained.

That includes two options: full benefits, under which the very large customer pays all the costs and gets all the benefits; and capacity-only, which involves a 75%-25% cost split with the very large customer covering only the larger portion.

Content said this “very complex framework” for covering data center energy costs was initially negotiated without input from other customer advocates, noting We Energies and the tech companies are beholden to their shareholders while CUB is looking to protect ratepayers.

He said the group would prefer that “customers aren’t on the hook for that 25%” under the capacity-only plan, given the billions of dollars of development expected in the near future.

“Our primary concerns are … with the utility industry now becoming part of this AI tech wave and all the hype associated with that, and in particular the concern about if business plans change, if there’s a tech bubble that bursts,” he said.

Content noted residential and small business energy customers are worried about having to foot the bill for the new energy infrastructure if the AI industry fails to meet expectations.

In response to those concerns, Phillips noted We Energies has proposed a “safety valve” provision to go into effect if actual costs exceed projected costs.

“We have said that we will modify those percentages, the 75-25, so that our other customers aren’t paying more than their fair share of the facility,” she said.

Phillips also pointed to requirements in the proposed service agreements for very large customers that if they shut down the data center early and the facility can’t be repurposed, the VLC would be required to pay the utility the net book value of those assets. That would ensure those costs wouldn’t be shifted to other customers, she argued.

“I think we’ve done our best to try to address those issues,” she said.

Producer prices rose in March but considerably less than expected as the Iran war’s push on energy prices rekindled fears of another inflation burst.

The producer price index, a gauge of pipeline costs for final demand goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% for the month.  Excluding food and energy, core PPI was up just 0.1% against the forecast for 0.5%. The services side of inflation — a key focus for Federal Reserve policymakers — was flat on the month.

On an annual basis, the all-items PPI accelerated 4%, the biggest 12-month gain since February 2023. Core PPI posted a 3.8% annual gain. Excluding food, energy and trade services, PPI increased 0.2% monthly and 3.6% annually. Trade services slipped 0.3% for the month, an indicator that businesses are absorbing tariff costs.

As expected, energy was the primary culprit in the PPI gain. The gasoline index surged 15.7%, accounting for about half the gain in the PPI, according to the BLS. Diesel prices alone soared 42% while jet fuel was up 30.7%.

As a result, goods prices increased 1.6%, though that was offset by flat services costs, which Fed officials view as a key gauge being that it excludes tariff and war impacts.

The U.S. Postal Service, citing what it called a “severe financial crisis,” on Thursday announced a proposed set of price hikes across its mail products, which would include a four-cent increase on First-Class Mail Forever stamps.

The increases, if approved, would lead to a first-class stamp costing 82 cents, effective July 12.

The agency’s proposal to the Postal Regulatory Commission would increase costs to mail letters and postcards by 4.8% if approved.

Postmaster General David Steiner in March told the House Oversight Committee that at current spending levels, USPS would run out of cash “in less than 12 months.”

Despite being a federal entity, the Postal Service does not receive tax dollars and instead relies on the sale of its products and services to fund operations.

A sharp decline in mail volume has contributed to the financial crunch. The Postal Service has seen a its volume of mail decrease by more than 104 billion pieces of mail per year since 2006, which equates to around $81 billion at the current stamp price of 78 cents, Steiner said at the hearing in March.

Last Friday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its National Emphasis Program that protects workers from outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards to direct agency resources where they can make the biggest impact – focusing inspections and outreach in industries and workplaces where heat stress risks are most likely to occur.

Originally issued in April 2022, the revised National Emphasis Program – Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards uses OSHA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data from calendar years 2022-2025 to direct inspection priorities to 55 high-risk industries in indoor and outdoor work settings.

Through this data, OSHA identified industries with high rates of heat-related illness and industries with employers that have received heat-related citations or hazard alert letters. The revised emphasis program removes outdated background information, updates links, and eliminates the former numerical inspection goal and introduces two reorganized appendices, one for evaluating heat programs and another for citation guidance. The update also includes clearer guidance that will improve tracking and more effectively implement the program’s enforcement and outreach efforts.

Compliance officers will continue to conduct outreach and compliance assistance and expand any inspection where there is evidence of heat-related hazards on heat priority days. Additionally, compliance officers will conduct random inspections focused on heat hazards in high-risk industries on days when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory or warning.

The revised National Emphasis Program is effective immediately and will be in place for five years after the effective date.

Companies, interest groups and others spent over $47 million on lobbying Wisconsin lawmakers last year, marking a decade-long high, according to a Cap Times analysis of state ethics disclosures.

These organizations have regularly been among top 10 spenders in the last decade of ethics disclosures:

• Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
• Wisconsin Hospital Association
• Wisconsin Property Taxpayers Inc.
• Wisconsin Insurance Alliance
• Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation
• Wisconsin Counties Association
• Wisconsin Realtors Association
• Wisconsin Infrastructure Investment Now Inc.
• Americans For Prosperity

Ten years ago, about $1 of every $7 spent lobbying Wisconsin lawmakers was by the top 1% of lobbying groups ranked by spending. That ratio has gradually shifted to about $1 of every $6 last year, a Cap Times analysis of ethics disclosures found.

State law requires reporting both money and hours spent on lobbying to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, which produces biannual reports summarizing the disclosures.

The top 1% of groups spending the most time lobbying are similar to those doling out the most money with some exceptions. The State Bar of Wisconsin, the city of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Association of School Boards have regularly logged top hours but not top dollars for lobbying in the last decade.

Governor Tony Evers vetoed two bills Friday that would have eliminated state income tax on tips and overtime pay.

The bills would have mirrored similar legislation at the federal level.

Researchers at the Wisconsin Policy Forum — an independent, nonpartisan research group — say the bills could have given some tax relief to hundreds of thousands of people, but federal tax breaks have a bigger impact on take-home pay.

Governor Evers vetoed Senate Bill 36 and Assembly Bill 461 Friday afternoon. The bills would have allowed up to $12,500 of overtime pay, or the ‘half’ of time-and-a-half, and $25,000 in tips to be tax deductible at the state level. Those amounts match the federal legislation.

In his letter vetoing the tips bill, which would have been in effect until 2028, the Governor wrote, “I object to adopting a temporary income tax provision instead of working to provide comprehensive and lasting relief to Wisconsin taxpayers.”

In his letter describing his reason for vetoing the overtime bill, the Governor said, “I object to this bill changing the tax code in a way that will treat Wisconsin workers who earn similar wages differently just because of their classification as salaried or hourly workers.”

The Trump administration is adjusting how Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imports and derivative products are calculated, according to a proclamation President Donald Trump signed Thursday.

Under the new rules, which go into effect April 6, goods made almost entirely of aluminum, steel or copper, including steel coils and aluminum sheets, will face a 50% tariff for the value of the item.

However, derivative articles “substantially made” of steel, aluminum or copper will incur a 25% levy, per a White House fact sheet. Such goods include steel cooking appliances, silverware, diesel-engine trains and semi-trailer hauling trucks, according to a list provided by the White House.

President Trump clarified that lower tariff rates will apply for steel and aluminum products from the United Kingdom. Such goods will face a 25% tariff if made almost entirely of the metals while derivative goods will face a 15% levy. Trump also said that the new rules did not alter or supersede prior agreements with trading partners such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea.

Meanwhile, the administration is also setting a 15% tariff rate for “certain metal-insensitive industrial equipment and electrical grid equipment,” as well as a 10% levy for imported goods made entirely with steel, aluminum or copper from the U.S, per the fact sheet. The tariff level for equipment will remain in effect through 2027.

Lastly, the proclamation says that the Section 232 tariffs will no longer apply to goods made with 15% or less steel, aluminum or copper.

Trump first introduced new tariffs on steel and aluminum goods more than a year ago, eventually hiking them to 50%. Meanwhile, copper imports have faced a 50% levy since last August.

For steel and aluminum duties, Trump later expanded the scope of goods covered to include locomotives, motorcycles, truck trailers and certain car parts, as well as numerous household appliances, such as refrigerators, dishwashing machines, stoves and ovens, laundry machines and microwaves.

As part of Thursday’s proclamation, Trump terminated the process he established in previous orders to include additional derivative products to the metal tariffs. Cabinet officials will now determine if additional derivative goods should be included within the scope of the levies on a rolling basis.

A three-judge panel today ruled it lacks the authority to overturn a congressional map approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2022 and dismissed a Dem lawsuit challenging the lines as a partisan gerrymander.

The Supreme Court appointed two three-judge panels to handle separate challenges to Wisconsin’s congressional map, which has helped produce a 6-2 GOP majority.

In doing so, the panel in today’s ruling noted, the high court didn’t provide guidance to the three judges on their authority in handling the suit. That includes whether the circuit court judges are an “arm of the State Supreme Court” and whether their mission is simply fact finding.

They also noted the law Republicans authored in 2011 laying out how the process for the Supreme Court to appoint a three-judge panel for a challenge to Wisconsin’s congressional lines lacked guidance as well.

A second three-judge panel is still considering a lawsuit that claims the map is an anti-competitive gerrymander. That suit is scheduled to go to trial in 2027.

Retail sales rose 0.6% in February from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, up from January’s downwardly revised -0.1%.

Retail sales are adjusted for seasonal swings but not inflation. The February retail sales report was delayed a few weeks because of last year’s government shutdown.

Retail sales climbed across nearly every category in February, declining only at grocery stores and furniture retailers, each decreasing 1%. Meanwhile, retail spending increased the most at department stores (3%), personal care shops (2.3%) and clothing retailers (2%).

A measure of retail sales that strips out volatile categories — such as building materials, cars and gasoline — rose 0.45% in February. That figure, known as the “control group,” is a closely watched indicator of underlying demand in the economy.

WISN-TV (Channel 12) is hosting the first and only state Supreme Court debate Wednesday night, March 25. Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan will moderate the live event.

The race for a seat on Wisconsin’s highest court features liberal candidate Chris Taylor, a former state Democratic lawmaker, and conservative candidate Maria Lazar, a former assistant attorney general during the Walker administration. Both are current judges on the Court of Appeals.

Here’s what to know about the debate:

The debate starts at 7 p.m. CT and runs through 8 p.m.

It will stream on WISN and air statewide on other ABC affiliate stations: WBAY in Green Bay, WKOW in Madison, WXOW in La Crosse, WQOW in Eau Claire and WAOW in Wausau. WISN will also livestream the debate on its Facebook and YouTube pages.

The candidates will debate in front of an invitation-only crowd at the Marquette University Law School, according to WISN, so the event isn’t open to the public.