Almost a Year After 2035 Clean Energy Intentions, WEC Has Made No Progress, Sierra Club Report Finds

Madison, WI – The Sierra Club released today the second edition of its ground-breaking report, The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges, that exposes how most major electric utilities greenwash their climate action commitments. The report grades utilities across the country based on their plans to retire coal plants, cease building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy. The report demonstrates if, and to what extent, each utility’s plans and operations make the necessary changes to confront the ongoing climate crisis by curbing CO2 emissions.

The WEC Energy Group is composed of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS). This year’s report revealed that We Energies received a ‘D’ and WPS an ‘F’. Overall, WEC’s score barely increased since the first report, despite their stated intentions to transition to coal-free electricity generation by 2035. Their so-called “clean” energy plan involves major investments in gas, an expensive fossil fuel with significant climate and health impacts. 

Elizabeth Ward, Wisconsin Chapter Director, released the following statement:

“Almost a year ago, WEC announced its intentions to transition off of coal by 2035, but they’ve chosen to turn to gas instead of clean solutions like solar and efficiency programs. Their continued investment in fossil fuels exposes their clean energy goals as false promises. If WEC is going to make clean energy commitments to Wisconsinites, they must be held accountable and deliver on a sustainable vision. As the largest utility in the state, the transition to clean energy for WEC is absolutely necessary and must be their top priority.

“The bottom line is fossil fuel energy is incredibly outdated and hazardous for Wisconsin. Coal is bad for our environment, bad for our wallets, and bad for our health. Instead of its greenwashing marketing campaigns and tactics, WEC should be investing its resources into clean energy. WEC is asking for huge increases to their rates, in part to continue operating their expensive coal plants and double-down on gas. This focus on fossil fuels is costing ratepayers, especially those already suffering from high energy burden.”

Background

The Dirty Truth, Version 2, scores the largest 50 utility parent companies and 77 utility operating companies based on their plans for coal retirements, new gas generation, and clean energy commitments. The report highlights the massive discrepancies between the climate pledges utilities make publicly and their actual plans meeting those pledges. The Dirty Truth exposes the “greenwashing” tactics many companies use to make false, misleading, or untrue claims about utility impacts on the environment. The report also highlights the unprecedented potential of the newly-passed Inflation Reduction Act, which includes nearly $370 billion in clean energy incentives that utilities should tap into in accelerating their response to the climate crisis.

Accompanying the report is an updated interactive website which allows the public to look up their utility’s grade, how much coal their utility is retiring, its planned gas plant capacity, and its investments in clean energy. The website also includes a national map to help users look up their utility service area and a digital dashboard for researchers, energy analysts, and media partners to keep track of each utility’s progress over the next decade.