Regulatory Environment (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Schedule of decisions in regulatory order

The new rates became effective January 1, 2020. The final orders reflect the following:



	WE					WPS					WG
2020 Effective rate increase (decrease)
Electric ^{(1) (2)}	$	15.3	million	/	0.5%	$	15.8	million	/	1.6%	N/A
Gas ⁽³⁾	$	10.4	million	/	2.8%	$	4.3	million	/	1.4%	$	(1.5	) million	/	(0.2)%
Steam	$	1.9	million	/	8.6%	N/A					N/A

ROE	10.0%					10.0%					10.2%

Common equity component average on a financial basis	52.5%					52.5%					52.5%

⁽¹⁾

Amounts are net of certain deferred tax benefits from the Tax Legislation that were utilized to reduce near-term rate impact. The WE and WPS rate orders reflect the majority of the unprotected deferred tax benefits from the Tax Legislation being amortized over two years. For WE, approximately $65 million of tax benefits will be amortized in each of 2020 and 2021. For WPS, approximately $11 million of tax benefits are being amortized in 2020 and approximately $39 million will be amortized in 2021. The unprotected deferred tax benefits related to the unrecovered balances of WE's recently retired plants and its SSR regulatory asset are being used to reduce the related regulatory asset. Unprotected deferred tax benefits by their nature are eligible to be returned to customers in a manner and timeline determined to be appropriate by our regulators.


⁽²⁾	The WPS rate order is net of $21 million of refunds related to its 2018 earnings sharing mechanism. These refunds will be made to customers evenly over two years, with half being returned in 2020 and the remainder in 2021.

⁽³⁾

The WE amount includes certain deferred tax expense from the Tax Legislation, and the WPS and WG amounts are net of certain deferred tax benefits from the Tax Legislation that were utilized to reduce near-term rate impact. The rate orders for all three gas utilities reflect all of the unprotected deferred tax expense and benefits from the Tax Legislation being amortized evenly over four years. For WE, approximately $5 million of previously deferred tax expense will be amortized each year. For WPS and WG, approximately $5 million and $3 million, respectively, of previously deferred tax benefits will be amortized each year. Unprotected deferred tax expense and benefits by their nature are eligible to be recovered from or returned to customers in a manner and timeline determined to be appropriate by our regulators.