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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES We and our subsidiaries have significant commitments and contingencies arising from our operations, including those related to unconditional purchase obligations, environmental matters, and enforcement and litigation matters. Unconditional Purchase Obligations Our electric utilities have obligations to distribute and sell electricity to their customers, and our natural gas utilities have obligations to distribute and sell natural gas to their customers. The utilities expect to recover costs related to these obligations in future customer rates. In order to meet these obligations, we routinely enter into long-term purchase and sale commitments for various quantities and lengths of time. The renewable generation facilities that are part of our non-utility energy infrastructure segment have obligations to distribute and sell electricity through long-term offtake agreements with their customers for all of the energy produced. In order to support these sales obligations, these companies enter into easements and other service agreements associated with the generating facilities. Our minimum future commitments related to these purchase obligations as of March 31, 2025, including those of our subsidiaries, were approximately $9.5 billion. Environmental Matters Consistent with other companies in the energy industry, we face significant ongoing environmental compliance and remediation obligations related to current and past operations. Specific environmental issues affecting us include, but are not limited to, current and future regulation of air emissions such as sulfur dioxide, NOx, fine particulates, ozone, mercury, and GHGs; water intake and discharges; management of coal combustion products such as fly ash; and remediation of impacted properties, including former manufactured gas plant sites. Federal Deregulatory Actions In March 2025, the EPA announced a large-scale deregulatory effort. The EPA announced that, in total, it expects to take 31 deregulatory actions that will likely take multiple years to complete. Of these 31 deregulatory actions, the actions that would apply to us include those impacting the Good Neighbor Rule, MATS, the PM Standard, the Greenhouse Gas Power Plant Rule, the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, the ELG, and the CCR Rule. Any EPA actions will require formal rulemaking proceedings and any such actions are likely to be subject to legal challenges. We continue to monitor and evaluate potential risks and benefits to us, depending on the actions ultimately taken. Air Quality Cross State Air Pollution Rule – Good Neighbor Rule In March 2023, the EPA issued its final Good Neighbor Rule, which became effective in August 2023 and requires significant reductions in ozone-forming emissions of NOx from power plants and industrial facilities. After review of the final rule, we believe we are well positioned to meet the requirements. Our RICE units in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin are not currently subject to the final rule as each unit is less than 25 MWs. To the extent we use RICE engines for natural gas distribution operations, those engines not part of an LDC are subject to the emission limits and operational requirements of the rule beginning in 2026. The EPA has exempted LDCs from the final rule. In February 2024, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding stay applications related to the EPA's Good Neighbor Rule. In June 2024, the Supreme Court granted a stay of the Good Neighbor Rule pending disposition of the applicants' petitions for review at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 2024, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the EPA's motion for partial voluntary remand so that it could address issues of severability raised in the Supreme Court's June 2024 opinion granting the petitions for stay of the rule. Pursuant to an order of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the parties filed motions to govern future proceedings in December 2024. In January 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order establishing a schedule for supplemental briefing on the issue of severability that extended through early March 2025. In March 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order removing the case from its active docket and holding the case in abeyance, pending quarterly updates from the parties beginning in July 2025. We will continue to monitor this case as arguments at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals move forward. In November 2024, the EPA issued a Good Neighbor Interim Final Rule that administratively stayed the effectiveness of the Good Neighbor Rule in all states to which it originally applies and ensured implementation of good neighbor obligations previously established to address the 2008 ozone NAAQS while the process works through the courts. We believe we are well positioned to comply with the rule's requirements. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. Mercury and Air Toxics Standards In 2012, the EPA issued the MATS to limit emissions of mercury, acid gases, and other hazardous air pollutants. In April 2023, the EPA issued the pre-publication version of a proposed rule to strengthen and update MATS to reflect recent developments in control technologies and performance of coal and oil-fired units. In May 2024, the EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register lowering the PM limit from 0.03 lb/MMBtu to 0.01 lb/MMBtu. We believe we are well positioned to comply with the rule's requirements. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. National Ambient Air Quality Standards Ozone After completing its review of the 2008 ozone standard, the EPA released a final rule in October 2015, creating a more stringent standard than the 2008 NAAQS. The 2015 ozone standard lowered the 8-hour limit for ground-level ozone. In November 2022, the EPA's 2022 CASAC Ozone Review Panel issued a draft report supporting reconsideration of the 2015 standard. The EPA staff initially issued a draft Policy Assessment in March 2023 that also supported the reconsideration; however, in August 2023, the EPA announced that it was instead restarting its ozone standard evaluation. The EPA released the first two volumes of its Integrated Review Plan in December 2024. This new review is anticipated to take 3 to 5 years to complete. In February 2022, revisions to the Wisconsin Administrative Code to adopt the 2015 standard were finalized. The amended regulations incorporated by reference the federal air pollution monitoring requirements related to the standard. The WDNR submitted the rule updates as a SIP revision to the EPA, which the EPA approved in February 2023. The EPA's initial nonattainment area designation was effective August 2018, and the attainment status is evaluated every 3 years thereafter until attainment is achieved. The Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and Chicago, IL-IN-WI nonattainment areas did not meet the marginal attainment deadline of August 2021, so in April 2022 the EPA proposed "moderate" nonattainment status based on the 2015 standard. In October 2022, the EPA published its final reclassifications from "marginal" to "moderate" for these areas, effective November 7, 2022. The most recent attainment evaluation date was in August 2024. The moderate attainment deadline was not met, so in December 2024 the EPA published a final determination reclassifying the nonattainment areas in Wisconsin to a "serious" classification effective January 16, 2025. This nonattainment status could have a material adverse effect on future permitting activities for our facilities in applicable locations, including additional costs associated with more strenuous emission control requirements or the need to purchase additional emission reduction credits. Particulate Matter All counties within our service territories are in attainment with current 2012 standards for fine PM2.5. Under the former presidential administration's policy review, the EPA concluded that the scientific evidence and information from a December 2020 review of the 2012 standards supported revising the level of the annual standard for the PM2.5 NAAQS to below the current level of 12 µg/m 3, while retaining the 24-hour standard of 35 µg/m 3. In February 2024, the EPA finalized a rule which lowered the primary (health-based) annual PM2.5 NAAQS to 9 µg/m 3. The secondary (welfare-based) PM2.5 standard and 24-hour standards (both primary and secondary) remain unchanged. The EPA has until February 2026 to designate areas as attainment and nonattainment with the new standard. The WDNR will need to draft and submit a SIP for the EPA's approval. A designation of nonattainment status could impact future permitting activities for facilities in applicable locations, including the potential need for improved or new air pollution control equipment. With our planned transition from coal-fired plants to natural gas-fired plants and renewable generating facilities, we do not expect this new standard to have a material impact on our units. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. Climate Change Pursuant to the final Greenhouse Gas Power Plant Rule published in May 2024, there are no applicable standards for coal plants until the end of 2031 and after 2031, the applicable standard is dependent upon the unit's retirement date. Coal-fired units that are planned to refuel to natural gas-fired units must convert to natural gas and no longer retain the capability to burn coal by the end of 2029. For new combined cycle natural gas plants above a 40% capacity factor, the rule is dependent upon the implementation of carbon capture by the end of 2031. For new simple cycle natural gas-fired combustion turbines, there are no applicable limits as long as the capacity factor is less than 20%. Our RICE units in Michigan and the new Weston RICE units are not affected under the rule because the rule excludes RICE units that are less than 25 MWs. Numerous parties have challenged the Greenhouse Gas Power Plant Rule through litigation pending in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In March 2024, the EPA announced it had removed regulations on existing natural gas combustion turbines from the rule. At that time, the EPA indicated it would work on new rulemaking phases, focusing on CO 2 emissions, as well as NOx and hazardous air pollutants (formaldehyde) emissions. In November 2024, the EPA released the first proposed rule of the three rule "packages" to address NOx emissions from existing combustion turbines. The proposed rule for turbines that operate at a greater than 20% capacity factor will require more stringent NOx limits and control requirements for new, modified, or reconstructed turbines. For turbines that operate at a capacity of 20% or lower, less restrictive standards and the use of combustion controls would apply. We currently believe our existing and planned combined cycle natural gas facilities will be positioned to comply with the proposed rule. As the EPA is not scheduled to finalize this proposal until late 2025, it could be revised or repealed. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. In April 2024, the EPA issued its final Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 98, which includes updates to the global warming potentials to determine CO 2 equivalency for threshold reporting and the addition of a new section regarding energy consumption. The revisions will impact the reporting required for our electric generation facilities, LDCs, and underground natural gas storage facilities. In May 2024, the EPA also issued its final rule to amend reporting requirements for petroleum and natural gas systems. Under the final rule, new leak emission factors and reporting requirements for large release events will impact the reporting required for our LDCs and underground natural gas storage facilities. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. Our capital plan includes the retirement of older, fossil-fueled generation, to be replaced with zero-carbon-emitting renewables and reliable, efficient natural gas-fueled generation. We have already retired nearly 2,500 MWs of fossil-fueled generation since the beginning of 2018, which includes the retirement of OCPP Units 5 and 6 in May 2024, the 2019 retirement of PIPP, and the 2018 retirements of the Pleasant Prairie power plant, the Pulliam power plant, and the jointly-owned Edgewater Unit 4 generating unit. We expect to retire approximately 1,200 MWs of additional coal-fired generation by the end of 2031, which includes the planned retirements of OCPP Units 7 and 8, the jointly-owned Columbia Units 1 and 2 while investigating conversion of at least one unit to natural gas, and Weston Unit 3. See Note 6, Property, Plant, and Equipment, for more information related to planned power plant retirements. In May 2021, we announced goals to achieve reductions in carbon emissions from our electric generation fleet by 60% by the end of 2025 and by 80% by the end of 2030, both from a 2005 baseline. We expect to achieve these goals by continuing to make operating refinements, retiring less efficient generating units, and executing our capital plan. Over the longer term, the target for our generation fleet is to be net carbon neutral by 2050. We also believe we will be in a position to eliminate coal as an energy source by the end of 2032. We will also continue to focus on methane emissions reductions by improving our natural gas distribution systems, and have set a target across our natural gas distribution operations to achieve net-zero methane emissions by the end of 2030. We plan to achieve our net-zero goal through an effort that includes continuous operational improvements and equipment upgrades, as well as the use of RNG throughout our natural gas utility distribution systems. In addition, subject to regulatory approval and market conditions, we expect to procure RTCs. Water Quality Clean Water Act Cooling Water Intake Structure Rule Revisions to an EPA rule authorized under Section 316(b) of the CWA became effective in October 2014 and requires the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at existing power plants reflect the BTA for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. The rule applies to all of our existing generating facilities with cooling water intake structures, except for the ERGS units, which were permitted and received a final BTA determination under the rules governing new facilities. Effective in June 2020, the requirements of Section 316(b) were incorporated into the Wisconsin Administrative Code. The WDNR applies this rule when establishing BTA requirements for cooling water intake structures at existing facilities. These BTA requirements are incorporated into WPDES permits for WE and WPS facilities. We have received final or interim BTA determinations for all generation facilities where Section 316(b) is applicable. The most recent BTA determination was for Weston Units 3 and 4. In accordance with the requirements in the CWA, the WDNR reissued the Weston WPDES permit in June 2024 (effective July 1, 2024) that includes a determination that existing technology (wet cooling towers) installed at the units represents BTA for minimizing adverse environmental impacts. With respect to OCPP Units 7 and 8, we believe the WDNR will reach the same BTA determination decision when the WPDES permit for those units is reissued, which is expected later in 2025. Steam Electric Effluent Limitation Guidelines The EPA's 2015 final ELG rule, which took effect in January 2016 (2015 ELG rule), was modified in 2020 (2020 ELG rule), and again in May 2024 with the publication of the Supplemental ELG Rule. These rules establish federal technology-based requirements for several types of power plant wastewaters. The three requirements that affect WE and WPS facilities relate to wastewater discharge limits for BATW, FGD wastewater, and CRL (landfill leachate). Although our coal-fueled facilities were constructed with advanced wastewater treatment technologies that meet many of the discharge limits established by the 2015 rule, facility modifications were still necessary at OCPP, ERGS, and Weston to meet all of the 2015 ELG requirements and the additional ones established by the 2020 ELG rule. Through 2023, compliance costs associated with the 2015 and 2020 ELG rules required $105 million in capital investment. The 2024 Supplemental ELG rule established zero discharge requirements for BATW, FGD, and CRL wastewaters at coal-fueled units with no planned retirement date. The Supplemental ELG Rule also kept one existing and created one new “permanent cessation of coal” subcategory. Those electing to cease coal combustion by either retiring or repowering a unit by December 31, 2028 or December 31, 2034 can limit ELG-related capital investments to what was required by either the 2015 or the 2020 ELG Rule, respectively. For units where cessation of coal is planned to occur no later than December 31, 2034, facility owners must complete all 2020 ELG rule required capital investments by December 31, 2025. All WE and WPS coal-fueled units fully meet the 2020 ELG rule requirements. Based on current electrical generation resource planning, we plan to file a NOPP by December 31, 2025 to opt into the "cessation of coal by December 31, 2034" subcategory for both the ERGS and Weston coal-fired facilities. A NOPP also may be filed for the OCPP, PWGS, and VAPP facilities because this ELG rule option will allow the company to qualify for more reasonable requirements to address the CRL provisions at our landfills that served these former coal-fired facilities. The final Supplemental ELG Rule allows owners of coal-fired units who opted into a cessation of coal subcategory to operate beyond the end of 2028 or 2034, as allowed by either the 2015 or the 2020 ELG Rule, respectively, if needed for reliability concerns (i.e., energy emergencies, reliability must run agreements, etc.) as determined by the United States Department of Energy, a public utility commission, or independent system operator. In November 2024, Edison Electric Institute, on behalf of its members, submitted a petition for reconsideration to the EPA regarding the CRL provisions in the Supplemental ELG Rule in an effort to codify the rule interpretations articulated by the EPA staff during informational conference calls on this issue. We are still awaiting either a rule revision or clear written guidance from the EPA about the Supplemental ELG Rule CRL provisions to determine the applicability and potential compliance costs for inactive/closed landfills. Numerous parties have challenged the rule through litigation pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The outcome of this case may affect our compliance plans. In February 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted the EPA's request to hold the ELG rule litigation in abeyance. In April 2025, the EPA filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit requesting that they continue to hold the case in abeyance until June 30, 2025. The Supplemental ELG Rule remains in effect during the pendency of the legal challenge. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. Land Quality Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation We have identified sites at which our utilities or a predecessor company owned or operated a manufactured gas plant or stored manufactured gas. We have also identified other sites that may have been impacted by historical manufactured gas plant activities. Our natural gas utilities are responsible for the environmental remediation of these sites, some of which are in the EPA Superfund Alternative Approach Program. We are also working with various state jurisdictions in our investigation and remediation planning. These sites are at various stages of investigation, monitoring, remediation, and closure. In addition, we are coordinating the investigation and cleanup of some of these sites subject to the jurisdiction of the EPA under what is called a "multisite" program. This program involves prioritizing the work to be done at the sites, preparation and approval of documents common to all of the sites, and use of a consistent approach in selecting remedies. At this time, we cannot estimate future remediation costs associated with these sites beyond those described below. The future costs for detailed site investigation, future remediation, and monitoring are dependent upon several variables including, among other things, the extent of remediation, changes in technology, and changes in regulation. Historically, our regulators have allowed us to recover incurred costs, net of insurance recoveries and recoveries from potentially responsible parties, associated with the remediation of manufactured gas plant sites. Accordingly, we have established regulatory assets for costs associated with these sites. We have established the following regulatory assets and reserves for manufactured gas plant sites:
(in millions) |  | March 31, 2025 |  | December 31, 2024
Regulatory assets |  | $ | 540.7 |  |  | $ | 570.1 |
Reserves for future environmental remediation |  | 442.1 |  |  | 445.8 |
Coal Combustion Residuals Rule The EPA finalized a rule for CCR in April 2024 that would apply to landfills, historic fill sites, and projects where CCR was placed at a power plant site. The rule will regulate previously exempt closed landfills. The final rule, which became effective in November 2024 will have an impact on some of our coal ash landfills, requiring additional remediation that is not currently required under the state programs. The rule is being challenged through litigation pending in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. We expect the cost of the additional remediation would be recovered through future rates. See the Federal Deregulatory Actions discussion above for more information regarding potential deregulatory actions regarding this rule. Enforcement and Litigation Matters We and our subsidiaries are involved in legal and administrative proceedings before various courts and agencies with respect to matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Although we are unable to predict the outcome of these matters, management believes that appropriate reserves have been established and that final settlement of these actions will not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. Consent Decrees Joint Ownership Power Plants – Columbia Energy Center and Edgewater Generating Station In December 2009, the EPA issued an NOV to WPL, the operator of the Columbia and Edgewater plants, and the other joint owners of these plants, including MG&E, WE (former co-owner of an Edgewater unit), and WPS. The NOV alleged violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements related to certain projects completed at those plants. WPS, along with WPL, MG&E, and WE, entered into a Consent Decree with the EPA resolving this NOV. This Consent Decree was entered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in June 2013. As a result of the continued implementation of the Consent Decree related to the jointly owned Columbia and Edgewater plants, the Edgewater Unit 4 generating unit was retired in September 2018. WPL started the process to close out this Consent Decree.

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