MILWAUKEE– Today, Healthy Climate Wisconsin released its inaugural Health Harms Report, revealing WE Energies’ record profits of $1.6 billion in 2025 are paid for by communities at the expense of their health and rising energy bills.
“As WE Energies once again reports soaring profits, our inaugural Health Harms Report tells the other side of the story—the mounting health and environmental burdens their business choices impose on our communities,” said Annie Carrell, Nurse Practitioner in Milwaukee. “This is the first of many reports that will continue to hold the utility accountable.”
Wisconsin households continue to face higher utility bills and growing energy insecurity. Public health experts warn that these trends force families to make difficult tradeoffs between paying energy bills and affording basic needs such as food, medication, and healthcare, decisions that directly impact population health. “WE Energies reported 1.6 billion in profits while shifting costs and risks onto ratepayers,” said Stephanie Siwak, MPH, Milwaukee-based public health professional. “That shows up as higher energy burdens, more pollution exposure, and widening health inequities across Wisconsin. This report documents those impacts and why they matter for public health.”
A central focus of the report is WE Energies’ continued investment in fossil fuel infrastructure to meet projected demand from hyperscale data centers. “WE Energies is trying to cash in on the hyperscale data center boom by building out new fossil fuel infrastructure in our communities,” said Landon Zimmerman, 3rd-year Medical Student. “Unfortunately, the monetary and health cost will be placed on everyday Wisconsinites instead of the megacorporations responsible.”
Further, WE Energies has submitted buy-sell dockets to acquire Red Oak Ridge (Kenosha County) and Foundry Ridge (Walworth County) methane gas plants, proposed for construction by Invenergy, a merchant utility. “By advancing new fossil fuel infrastructure through a merchant utility, WE Energies can avoid the level of public scrutiny typically required for projects with long-term health impacts,” said Ifadha Jayah, MPH, public health professional. “This highlights why transparency and accountability are essential to protecting community health.”
The report also highlights the ongoing WE Energies data center rate case before the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), which requires ratepayers to subsidize energy costs for big tech companies, like Microsoft and Vantage. “The WE Energies data center rate case proposed to the PSC is not strong enough to protect everyday Wisconsinites from having to pick up the tab for billion-dollar tech corporations,” said Julia Alberth, MPH, Healthy Equity Coordinator at Healthy Climate Wisconsin. “We are urging the PSC to require data centers to pay 100% of their own energy costs.”
Public participation opportunities for the data center rate case remain open. The PSC is accepting public comments through Tuesday, February 17, and will hold virtual public hearings on February 10 at 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM.
The February Quarterly Health Harms Report is the first in a planned series to be released throughout 2026. Wisconsin health professionals with Healthy Climate Wisconsin will continue to raise awareness of how WE Energies’ predatory practices result in health harms that show up in our waiting rooms and communities.
