Wisconsin PSC approves modified tariff for Webco very-large customers, orders new protections and reporting

The Public Service Commission approved, with modifications, Wisconsin Electric Power Company's proposed Very Large Customer (VLC) and bespoke resources tariffs aimed at serving data center-scale customers.

Chairperson Strand opened the April 24 meeting by calling the docket "a significant and consequential tariff docket unlike anything the commission has seen before," and framed the commission's task of balancing statutory standards with protections for nonparticipating customers. Commissioners debated tariff design elements for several hours before reaching consensus on a package of edits, reporting requirements and safeguards.

The commission adopted several material changes to the filing: it extended the minimum initial VLC term from 10 to 15 years; set the VLC eligibility threshold at 100 megawatts and made enrollment mandatory for customers meeting that threshold; and removed the proposal's capacity-only bespoke-resource track. The commissioners also required bespoke resources to have a term no less than the depreciable life of the resource (or the contract duration), with a 20-year floor for typical wind and solar assets. "Existing Wisconsin customers should not pay a…