Commission approves deferral of NSPW’s $9.6 million 2025 excess liability insurance expense; denies carrying costs

The Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 7 approved Northern States Power Company of Wisconsin’s request to defer $9,600,000 of 2025 excess liability insurance expense as a regulatory asset until a future rate proceeding but did not authorize carrying costs on that deferred balance.

Chair Strand, presiding, said the request was narrowly for deferral accounting and was not a decision on cost recovery or the reasonableness of the company’s insurance expenditures. “This request is only a request for deferral. This is not a cost recovery decision, nor is it a determination on the reasonableness of the applicants insurance cost expenditures,” Strand said, adding that any recovery would be reviewed in a later rate proceeding.

The commission majority cited a recent, sharp increase in excess liability premiums for NSPW: the premium more than doubled in 2023 and rose another 400% in 2024, which the commission said represented roughly $9,300,000 of the change. Commissioners said roughly 90% of that $9.3 million increase is driven by wildfire-related claims across the utility industry, although NSPW has not reported wildfire…