- Business
- Wisconsin Electric Power Company (Welpp) generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to approximately 2.3 million residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily in southeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; it also generates, purchases, transports and sells natural gas to retail customers in those areas as well as steam for heating, processing, domestic hot water and humidification in metropolitan Milwaukee through its district energy operations. The company produces power from a diverse portfolio encompassing coal, natural gas, oil, wind, hydro, solar and biomass facilities contributing to its total generating capacity owned or leased through affiliates; additional services include electric vehicle charging programs, time-of-use rate options, customer-owned generation interconnections for renewables like solar and wind, outdoor lighting installations, power quality solutions, tree trimming and business-specific energy programs such as new construction services and energy information systems. Founded in 1896 as the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company and headquartered at 231 West Michigan Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Electric Power operates as the principal subsidiary of WEC Energy Group Inc., a Fortune 500 holding company serving 4.7 million customers across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota with combined assets including 72,400 miles of electric distribution lines and 47,000 miles of natural gas lines. In recent developments, the company jointly seeks regulatory approval with affiliates Wisconsin Public Service Corporation and Madison Gas and Electric Company to acquire hybrid solar-plus-storage projects from Invenergy—Dawn Harvest (150 MW solar, 50 MW battery) and Saratoga (100 MW solar, 50 MW battery)—with Wisconsin Electric taking majority ownership of the battery capacity at a total cost exceeding US$800 million, construction slated to start in September 2025 and commercial operations by 2027-2028; additionally, as We Energies, it filed plans in November 2025 with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin for a nearly 3 gigawatt grid expansion including seven solar projects, one large-scale battery storage facility and two modern natural gas plants plus upgrades to existing facilities to support data centers, economic growth and reliability under a customer protection plan ensuring no cost shifting to other ratepayers.