WattWatch/All Michigan utilities
Investor-owned utility
Northern States Power Company - Wisconsin
NSP-Wisconsin rates rose 19% since 2019 — the average bill went from $78 to $85 a month.
Computed as revenue ÷ sales from NSP-Wisconsin’s own EIA-861 filings, 2019–2024. Not adjusted for inflation. See where that ranks.
The Michigan Public Service Commission sets your rates
Rate changes go through a public docket. Filings, hearing dates, and comment deadlines are matters of public record, and you can file a comment on them.
Dates you could act on
No open comment period right now. The most recent one closed August 5, 2026 (U-21613).
When NSP-Wisconsin files a rate case, the Commission issues a notice of hearing that sets three dates: a deadline to petition to intervene, a prehearing conference, and a period for written comments that any customer can file without becoming a party. Michigan law gives the Commission ten months from filing to decide (MCL 460.6a), so a case filed today is decided within the year.
NSP-Wisconsin has had a general rate case decided in 2 of the last 2 years — most recently December 18, 2025. Another one is a matter of when, not whether.
We check the MPSC docket system every night. Rather than watching this page, have the next deadline emailed to you.
What is still undecided
These cases are open before the Commission — some are NSP-Wisconsin’s own requests, others the Commission opened on its own motion. Undecided is the only window in which a comment from you counts for anything, so these are the ones worth watching.
- U-21613notice PDFRequested$0.1M
Northern States Power Company is asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and settle up its gas cost charges for April 2025 through March 2026, and to carry a $114,742 over-recovery forward into next year's gas cost reconciliation. A pre-hearing is set for August 5, 2026, by video/teleconference, and anyone interested may take part. Customers can also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-21613 by email or mail, or file a petition to intervene by July 29, 2026.
- U-21599notice PDF
Northern States Power Company has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and settle up its 2025 power supply costs, including rolling a net over-collection of $360,091 into its 2026 power supply cost reconciliation. A pre-hearing is set for Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 10:00 AM by video/teleconference, and anyone interested may take part. Customers may also send written comments referencing Case No. U-21599 to the Commission by email or mail, or file a petition to intervene by April 30, 2026.
This case concerns Northern States Power Company's integrated resource plan, which is its long-term plan for meeting customers' electricity needs. In a November 21, 2024 order, the Commission granted the company's request to delay filing that plan until within 60 days after Minnesota regulators issue a final order in a related plan case. A notice of hearing dated June 17, 2025 set a prehearing conference for July 18, 2025 on the plan the company filed on June 6, 2025. These documents do not set electric rates and do not change residential bills.
Northern States Power Company has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to settle up its Energy Waste Reduction surcharge accounts for 2025 for both electric and gas customers, and to adjust those surcharges to address a $12,630 electric under-collection and a $14,993 natural gas under-collection and to fund 2026 program administrator payments. A prehearing is set for May 14, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone interested may take part. Customers can also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22013, or file a petition to intervene by May 7, 2026.
What changed your bill
- Requested$2.2MApproved$1.6MROE9.8%
The Commission approved a settlement between Northern States Power Company (a Wisconsin corporation serving Michigan gas customers), the Attorney General, and Commission Staff. The company had asked to raise Michigan natural gas base rates by $2,177,374 a year; the settlement instead allows a total increase of $1.6 million, split into $700,000 effective January 1, 2026, and an additional $900,000 effective January 1, 2027. For residential gas customers, the fixed monthly customer charge rises from $12.00 to $13.00 and the distribution charge rises from $0.3387 to $0.4217 per therm on January 1, 2026, then to $0.5433 per therm on January 1, 2027. The settlement sets the authorized return on common equity at 9.80% and requires the company to spend at least $700,000 a year on its distribution integrity management program in 2026 and 2027; the company agreed not to seek another base rate increase effective before January 1, 2028.
- Approved$0.9M
The Commission approved a settlement between Northern States Power Company (Xcel Energy) and Commission Staff covering the company's 2026-2027 energy waste reduction obligation. Instead of running its own efficiency programs, the company will make alternative compliance payments to the state administrator, Efficiency United, of $937,432 per year for electric service and $243,014 per year for natural gas service. To collect these amounts, the company's energy waste reduction surcharges increase effective January 1, 2026, to $0.0087 per kilowatt-hour for residential electric customers and $0.033 per therm for residential gas customers. The company must file conforming tariff sheets within 30 days.
- Requested$-0.8MApproved$-0.8M
The Commission approved a settlement between Northern States Power Company (NSP-W) and Commission Staff that closes out the utility's 2024 power supply cost recovery period, covering January 1 through December 31, 2024. The Commission found the power supply costs during that period were reasonably and prudently incurred, and determined that the company collected $797,718 more from customers than its actual power supply costs. That over-collection of $797,718 will be carried into the starting balance of the company's 2025 power supply cost reconciliation rather than refunded directly, so it will be credited against 2025 power supply costs. The company had asked to roll in an over-recovery of $757,407; the approved figure reflects Staff's adjustments.
Everything else on the docket (9)
Procedural orders, reconciliations, and cases where no approved figure could be sourced. Kept for completeness — none of these carries a number we can tie to your bill.
Northern States Power Company (a Wisconsin corporation serving parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) asked the Commission to review and reconcile the costs and revenues of its renewable energy plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2025. The company and Commission Staff reached a settlement agreement resolving all issues, which the Commission approved on August 6, 2026. The company's filing stated that renewable energy costs are recovered through base rates and power supply cost recovery proceedings rather than a separate renewable energy surcharge. This order does not set new rates and states no change to a residential bill.
Northern States Power Company (a Wisconsin utility with a small number of Michigan retail electric customers) asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to recognize, for accounting purposes, the depreciation rates that Wisconsin regulators approved for its power plants and equipment. The Commission approved those rates effective January 1, 2026, and later approved a corrected version after Wisconsin regulators fixed errors in account descriptions, retirement dates, and remaining lives. The company may record the added depreciation expense as a regulatory asset, to be reviewed for recovery in its next general electric rate case. The Commission stated this approval does not increase any Michigan base rates or charges, so residential bills do not change as a result of this order.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement in Northern States Power Company's gas cost recovery case covering the 12 months ending March 31, 2027. The company may charge a base gas cost recovery factor of up to $0.56840 per therm starting with the first full billing month after the order, replacing the $0.54530 per therm factor it had been billing since April 2026. A quarterly contingency mechanism can raise or lower the maximum factor if natural gas futures prices change, but the billed factor cannot go below $0.56840 per therm. Residential gas bills reflect this per-therm charge multiplied by the gas a customer uses.
The Commission approved updated rules and forms that Northern States Power Company uses when customers connect their own generation equipment, such as solar panels or batteries, to the utility's system. The revised procedures replace earlier temporary exemptions and now require certain customers to use inverters with locked export settings, or relays that detect power flowing back onto the grid for larger non-export projects. The company must file a clean copy of the approved procedures within 30 days. This order does not change electric rates or residential bills.
The Commission approved a settlement between Northern States Power Company (NSP-W) and Commission Staff covering the utility's power supply cost recovery (PSCR) plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2026. The settlement lets the company charge a maximum PSCR factor of negative $0.01009 per kilowatt-hour in each month of 2026, meaning a credit is applied to the power supply portion of customer bills, in part to return an estimated 2025 over-collection. The company may charge a smaller (less negative) factor if it files a tariff sheet before the billing month. The order does not state a dollar revenue amount or a specific change to a typical residential monthly bill.
The Commission approved a settlement between Northern States Power Company and Commission Staff closing out the company's gas cost recovery for the 12 months ending March 31, 2025. The order finds the company's gas supply costs for that period were reasonable and prudent, and it determines that the company collected $168,650 more from gas customers than its actual gas costs (the company had originally calculated $144,932). That over-collection will be carried forward as the starting balance in the company's 2025-2026 gas cost recovery reconciliation rather than refunded directly, so no immediate change to a monthly residential bill is set by this order.
This case involved Northern States Power Company's amended renewable energy plan under Michigan's Public Act 235 of 2023, consolidated with its integrated resource plan case (U-21814). On January 15, 2026, the Commission approved a settlement agreement among the company, Commission Staff, the Attorney General, and other participants that resolved all issues in both cases. The order does not set retail rates or state any change to residential bills.
The Commission approved Northern States Power Company's continued operation of its voluntary green pricing program, Renewable*Connect, which lets customers choose to have some or all of their electricity matched with renewable energy. The company proposed no changes to the program or its pricing and tariffs. The Commission stated the approval will not increase rates or the cost of service to any customer, so residential bills are unaffected unless a customer chooses to enroll. The company must keep filing enrollment and cost reports twice a year, on April 1 and October 1.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement covering Northern States Power Company's gas cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending March 31, 2026. Under the settlement, the company may charge a base gas cost recovery factor of up to $0.46300 per therm, which is the charge that passes the cost of the gas itself through to customers, and it may adjust that ceiling each quarter through a contingency mechanism tied to natural gas futures prices, but never below the base factor. The company had originally applied for a base factor of $0.51520 per therm. A residential customer's monthly gas bill will reflect this per-therm charge multiplied by the gas used that month.
Every figure is quoted from the order it came from — hover a number to see the exact sentence and page. Figures without a quote in the source are not shown at all. Extracted figures are machine-read and not yet checked by a person.
Large load watch
Who pays for the data centers
A single hyperscale data center can ask for more power than a small city. The question in front of the Commission is not whether they get it — it is what they have to commit to in order to get it, and who absorbs the cost of the poles, wires, and generation built for them if the project shrinks or never arrives.
In U-22061, DTE Electric asked to rewrite its Rate D11 and add a provision for customers taking more than 100 MW: a minimum monthly bill regardless of how much power is actually used, administrative fees, a fee for walking away, and collateral up front. Those terms are the difference between a data center carrying its own risk and residential customers carrying it. NSP-Wisconsin has not filed a large-load provision of its own. What the Commission approves here is the template the rest of Michigan’s regulated utilities will be measured against.
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to change its Rate D11 and add a new provision for very large electricity users, such as customers needing more than 100 MW, including a minimum monthly billing amount, administrative fees, a termination fee, and collateral requirements. The Commission has not decided the case; a prehearing is set for April 28, 2026 by video/teleconference. Customers can attend that hearing, file a written comment referencing Case No. U-22061, or file a petition to intervene by April 21, 2026.
The scheduled dates in this case have passed — the last was May 5, 2026. The case remains open, and an order can issue at any time. This is the one worth having emailed to you.