- Company name
- WEC Energy Group
- Sector
- Electric & gas utility
- About
- WEC Energy Group is a regulated utility holding company based in Milwaukee. It serves 4.8 million electric and natural gas customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Its main utilities are We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources and Upper Michigan Energy Resources. It owns 60% of American Transmission Company, and its WEC Infrastructure unit owns wind and solar farms in other states. It had about $52.8 billion of assets in September 2026. Scott Lauber is Chairman, President and CEO.
- Thesis
- The market prices WEC for the cost of the largest capital plan in its history and for the regulatory risk that comes with it. The plan for 2026 to 2030 is $37.5 billion, and WEC expects to fund it partly with $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion of new common equity and $14.2 billion to $14.8 billion of incremental debt. Much of the plan serves very large data center customers, such as Microsoft in Mount Pleasant and the Vantage campus in Port Washington for OpenAI and Oracle, so the growth depends on a small number of customers. Rate cases in Wisconsin and Illinois are pending. For the gap to close, three things must be true. The Wisconsin and Illinois commissions must approve fair rate orders in Q4 2026 for new rates on January 1, 2027. The data center customers must keep building and use the forecast load, with the protections of the Very Large Customer tariff that the Wisconsin commission approved on May 21, 2026. WEC must meet its 2026 guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 per share and its long-term EPS growth target of 7% to 8%. The Q3 2026 report, estimated for about October 29, 2026, and the rate orders in Q4 2026 give the tests. If these checks pass, the gap can close over the next two to four quarters. The main reason it may not close is a delay or cut in data center demand, which would leave less growth from the plan.
- Risks
- A large part of the load growth comes from a few data center campuses. If a customer delays or cancels its project, WEC has less growth from its plan, although the Very Large Customer tariff requires payment for the remaining book value on early termination.
Rate cases in Wisconsin and Illinois are pending, with orders expected in Q4 2026. Lower allowed returns or equity ratios than requested reduce earnings growth.
WEC plans to issue $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion of common equity from 2026 to 2030. Higher interest rates or a lower share price increase the cost of this funding.
Illinois requires Peoples Gas to retire more than 1,000 miles of old pipe by January 1, 2035. Costs that regulators do not allow in rates reduce earnings.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $50M
Debt: $22.6B
Net debt: $22.5B
Interest cover: 3.1×
Debt due within 12 months: $3.3B
WEC funds its utilities with long-term debt, short-term borrowings and new equity. At June 30, 2026, long-term debt was $20.63 billion, including $1.41 billion due within one year, and short-term borrowings were $1.93 billion. Cash was $50 million. Interest cover is operating income divided by interest expense for the first six months of 2026. WEC targets S&P FFO to debt above 15% and Moody's CFO before working capital to debt above 16%. Its issuer ratings are A- from S&P and Baa1 from Moody's. The financing plan for 2026 to 2030 includes $5.0 billion to $6.0 billion of junior subordinated notes or other securities with equity content.
As of 2026-06-30.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 29, 2026 (estimate): Q3 2026 earnings. Pending. Watch: 2026 guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 per share reaffirmed or raised passes; a guidance cut fails.
Dec 2026 (estimate): Wisconsin and Illinois rate orders. Pending. Watch: Orders near the requested returns on equity and equity ratios for rates from January 1, 2027 pass; large cuts to the requests fail.
- Recent events
- 2026-09-04: WEC published an investor update. It shows a 2026 to 2030 capital plan of $37.5 billion, a long-term EPS growth target of 7% to 8% and 3.9 GW of new electric demand expected from 2026 to 2030. It expects Wisconsin and Illinois rate orders in Q4 2026 for new rates on January 1, 2027.
2026-08-14: Wisconsin Electric agreed with NextEra Energy Point Beach to buy 86% of the output of the Point Beach nuclear plant for 20 more years, to 2050 for Unit 1 and 2053 for Unit 2. The agreement needs approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
2026-07-29: WEC reported Q2 2026 results. Net income was $299.2 million, or $0.91 per share, up from $0.76. For the first half, EPS was $3.36. WEC reaffirmed its 2026 guidance of $5.51 to $5.61 per share.
2026-05-21: The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the Very Large Customer tariff for customers with 100 MW or more of new load. On the same day, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved a settlement that resolves 12 open rider dockets of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.