WPPI Energy lays out generation replacement, transmission and contract planning
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Summary
Joe Daggett, CFO of WPPI Energy, told the River Falls Municipal Utility Advisory Board that the joint-action utility is planning to replace roughly 400 megawatts of generating capacity by about 2033, is preparing for rising transmission costs, and will seek member contract discussions to support long-term financing.
Joe Daggett, chief financial officer of WPPI Energy, told the City of River Falls Municipal Utility Advisory Board on Oct. 20 that the joint-action utility is preparing for a multiyear effort to replace generation and to manage rising transmission costs.
Daggett said WPPI — a joint-action public power organization owned by 51 customer-owned utilities — expects to replace about 400 megawatts of generating capacity by roughly 2033 as purchase power agreements for wind and nuclear resources expire and coal plants undergo fuel switching. "We're doing it in several ways," Daggett said, listing requests for proposals, evaluation of contract extensions and feasibility work on potential self-build resources.
The presentation emphasized three priorities: planning for future power supply resources, preparing for continued transmission investment, and continuing member services and advocacy. Daggett said WPPI's portfolio and regional purchases help limit exposure to single fuel or market swings. "Through WPPI, our membership invests in a more diverse portfolio of resources than one community on its own," he said.
Daggett described the group's scale: 51 customer-owned utilities, including 41 from Wisconsin, seven from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and three from Iowa, and a combined system peak of a little over 1,000 megawatts. He said River Falls' typical daily load is in the low 20s of megawatts, with an all-time peak around 31 megawatts.
Board members asked about the implications for member contracts and local rates. Daggett said long-term member contracts support financing for capital-intensive resources: "To finance those resources, we use those long-term contracts as the ability to backstop our financing of the capital needs." He said the topic of member contract extensions will be a focus in WPPI's next five-year business-plan engagement beginning 2026.
Daggett also warned that transmission will become a larger portion of wholesale costs as the grid evolves and more lines are built to connect new generation. He noted WPPI's investments in transmission, including a minority equity stake in American Transmission, and said ownership returns help offset some transmission cost pressure.
On resource mix, Daggett said WPPI pursues an "all-of-the-above" strategy combining renewables, natural gas and other dispatchable resources to maintain reliability as variable generation grows. He quantified the membership's 2024 fuel mix roughly as 32% coal, about 25% renewables and about 20% natural gas, characterizing the balance as a way to limit volatility.
Daggett and staff also described member support services: assistance with data-center inquiries, new outage management and shared GIS services for smaller utilities, advanced metering and customer portals, and an increased pool of member-allocated dollars for local customer service and branding (noted as roughly $40,000 available to River Falls as an illustration).
