XML 73 R58.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.24.0.1

Income Taxes (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] |
Summary of Income Tax Expense | The following table is a summary of income tax expense for the years ended December 31:
(in millions) |  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021
Current tax expense (benefit) |  | $ | (14.8) |  |  | $ | 50.2 |  |  | $ | 93.9 |
Deferred income taxes, net |  | 229.9 |  |  | 278.5 |  |  | 111.0 |
ITCs |  | (10.5) |  |  | (5.8) |  |  | (4.6) |
Total income tax expense |  | $ | 204.6 |  |  | $ | 322.9 |  |  | $ | 200.3 |
Statutory rate reconciliation | The provision for income taxes for each of the years ended December 31 differs from the amount of income tax determined by applying the applicable United States statutory federal income tax rate to income before income taxes as a result of the following:
|  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021
|  |  |  | Effective |  |  |  | Effective |  |  |  | Effective
(in millions) |  | Amount |  | Tax Rate |  | Amount |  | Tax Rate |  | Amount |  | Tax Rate
Statutory federal income tax |  | $ | 322.6 |  |  | 21.0 | % |  | $ | 363.5 |  |  | 21.0 | % |  | $ | 315.1 |  |  | 21.0 | %
State income taxes net of federal tax benefit |  | 94.3 |  |  | 6.1 | % |  | 109.7 |  |  | 6.3 | % |  | 96.1 |  |  | 6.4 | %
PTCs, net |  | (168.2) |  |  | (10.9) | % |  | (107.6) |  |  | (6.2) | % |  | (81.3) |  |  | (5.4) | %
Federal excess deferred tax amortization (1) |  | (37.6) |  |  | (2.4) | % |  | (36.9) |  |  | (2.1) | % |  | (37.3) |  |  | (2.5) | %
AFUDC-Equity |  | (12.4) |  |  | (0.8) | % |  | (6.2) |  |  | (0.4) | % |  | (3.8) |  |  | (0.3) | %
Federal excess deferred tax amortization – Wisconsin unprotected (2) |  | (0.8) |  |  | (0.1) | % |  | (0.8) |  |  | — | % |  | (77.9) |  |  | (5.2) | %
Other, net |  | 6.7 |  |  | 0.4 | % |  | 1.2 |  |  | — | % |  | (10.6) |  |  | (0.6) | %
Total income tax expense |  | $ | 204.6 |  |  | 13.3 | % |  | $ | 322.9 |  |  | 18.6 | % |  | $ | 200.3 |  |  | 13.4 | %
(1) The Tax Legislation required our regulated utilities to remeasure their deferred income taxes and we began to amortize the resulting excess protected deferred income taxes beginning in 2018 in accordance with normalization requirements. The decrease in income tax expense related to the amortization of the deferred tax benefits is offset by a decrease in revenue as the benefits are returned to customers, resulting in no impact on net income. (2) In accordance with the rate order received from the PSCW in December 2019, our Wisconsin utilities amortized these unprotected deferred tax benefits over periods ranging from two years to four years, to reduce near-term rate impacts to their customers. The decrease in income tax expense related to the amortization of the deferred tax benefits is offset by a decrease in revenue as the benefits are returned to customers, resulting in no impact on net income.
Components of deferred income taxes | The components of deferred income taxes as of December 31 were as follows:
(in millions) |  | 2023 |  | 2022
Deferred tax assets |  |  |  |
Tax gross up – regulatory items |  | $ | 438.6 |  |  | $ | 459.0 |
Future tax benefits |  | 160.7 |  |  | 187.7 |
Deferred revenues |  | 84.7 |  |  | 86.8 |
Other |  | 168.3 |  |  | 190.2 |
Total deferred tax assets |  | 852.3 |  |  | 923.7 |
Valuation allowance |  | (5.0) |  |  | (1.2) |
Net deferred tax assets |  | $ | 847.3 |  |  | $ | 922.5 |
Deferred tax liabilities |  |  |  |
Property-related |  | $ | 4,198.0 |  |  | $ | 4,072.5 |
Investment in affiliates |  | 915.1 |  |  | 839.7 |
Employee benefits and compensation |  | 227.2 |  |  | 219.5 |
Deferred costs – plant retirements |  | 199.6 |  |  | 212.8 |
Other |  | 225.9 |  |  | 203.6 |
Total deferred tax liabilities |  | 5,765.8 |  |  | 5,548.1 |
Deferred tax liability, net |  | $ | 4,918.5 |  |  | $ | 4,625.6 |
Components of deferred tax assets associated with federal and state tax benefit carryforwards | The components of net deferred tax assets associated with federal and state tax benefit carryforwards as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 are summarized in the tables below:
2023 (in millions) |  | Gross Value |  | Deferred Tax Effect |  | Valuation Allowance |  | Earliest Year of Expiration
Future tax benefits as of December 31, 2023 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal tax credit |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 153.0 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | 2042
State net operating loss |  | 62.6 |  |  | 3.8 |  |  | (1.1) |  |  | 2032
Other state benefits |  | — |  |  | 3.9 |  |  | (3.9) |  |  | 2024
Balance as of December 31, 2023 |  | $ | 62.6 |  |  | $ | 160.7 |  |  | $ | (5.0) |  |  |
2022 (in millions) |  | Gross Value |  | Deferred Tax Effect |  | Valuation Allowance |  | Earliest Year of Expiration
Future tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal tax credit |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 176.4 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | 2041
State net operating loss |  | 72.6 |  |  | 4.5 |  |  | (1.2) |  |  | 2032
Other state benefits |  | — |  |  | 6.8 |  |  | — |  |  | 2023
Balance as of December 31, 2022 |  | $ | 72.6 |  |  | $ | 187.7 |  |  | $ | (1.2) |  |  |
Schedule of unrecognized tax benefits roll forward | A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
(in millions) |  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021
Balance as of January 1 |  | $ | 6.3 |  |  | $ | 6.8 |  |  | $ | 11.9 |
Additions for tax positions of prior years |  | 0.2 |  |  | 0.3 |  |  | — |
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year |  | — |  |  | 0.4 |  |  | 1.6 |
Reductions for tax positions of prior years |  | (1.9) |  |  | (1.2) |  |  | (6.7) |
Balance as of December 31 |  | $ | 4.6 |  |  | $ | 6.3 |  |  | $ | 6.8 |
Roll forward of interest accrued on unrecognized tax benefits | Interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
(in millions) |  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021
Balance as of January 1 |  | $ | 0.5 |  |  | $ | 0.1 |  |  | $ | 0.5 |
Interest expense (income) related to unrecognized tax benefits |  | 0.1 |  |  | 0.4 |  |  | (0.4) |
Balance as of December 31 |  | $ | 0.6 |  |  | $ | 0.5 |  |  | $ | 0.1 |
Summary of income tax examinations | As of December 31, 2023, with a few exceptions, we were subject to examination by federal and state or local tax authorities for the 2019 through 2023 tax years in our major operating jurisdictions as follows:
Jurisdiction |  | Years
Federal |  | 2020–2023
Illinois |  | 2019–2023
Michigan |  | 2019–2023
Minnesota |  | 2019–2023
Wisconsin |  | 2019–2023

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Paragraph 9 -Section 50 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-9 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfComponentsOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Paragraph 2 -Section 50 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-2 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfDeferredTaxAssetsAndLiabilitiesTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Paragraph 12 -Section 50 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-12 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfEffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the change in unrecognized tax benefits. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 55 -Paragraph 217 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482663/740-10-55-217 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 15A -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-15A + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsRollForwardTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of income tax examinations that an enterprise is currently subject to or that have been completed in the current period typically including a description of the examination, the jurisdiction conducting the examination, the tax year(s) under examination, the likelihood of an unfavorable settlement, the range of possible losses, the liability recorded, the increase or decrease in the liability from the prior period, and any penalties and interest that have been recorded. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-15 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 217 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482663/740-10-55-217 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_SummaryOfIncomeTaxExaminationsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of pertinent information, such as tax authority, amounts, and expiration dates, of net operating loss carryforwards, including an assessment of the likelihood of utilization. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147482685/740-10-50-3 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_SummaryOfOperatingLossCarryforwardsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | dtr-types:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Roll forward of interest accrued on unrecognized tax benefits + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | wec_RollForwardOfInterestAccruedOnUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | wec_
Data Type: | dtr-types1:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration