Milwaukee's natural gas capacity is being rebuilt around new demand

By Sam Strong, Vice President of Business Development, Discovery Energy. Technical review by Tara Dugger, Chief Operating Officer. Updated October 2026.

Metro used: the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metropolitan statistical area (CBSA 33340), as the federal government defines it in Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 23-01 (July 21, 2023). The utility records on this page cover the gas system serving Milwaukee of Wisconsin Electric Power Company, which does business as We Energies. Each item is sorted as in or not in the metro's four counties using the place names in the filings, and Kenosha County is added as a separate area in its own section.¹

Key takeaways

What happened in Milwaukee during Winter Storm Elliott?

On December 23, 2022, We Energies reported that an interstate pipeline supplier had suffered a significant equipment failure, cutting the gas it normally delivers by 30 percent. With extreme cold across much of the country, the utility said it could not receive additional gas from its other suppliers. It drew on stored LNG and propane, reduced gas to business customers who had agreed to special billing for such events, and asked customers to lower thermostats.²

The next day, We Energies named the Guardian pipeline as the supplier, reported that deliveries had recovered, and lifted the conservation request. No customer lost the ability to heat their home, but the business reductions had already happened. The utility's notices do not identify which businesses were affected or what the reductions cost them.²

The 30 percent figure applies to one supplier's deliveries, not to Milwaukee's total supply. The event was a temporary upstream failure; it showed there was no spare pipeline capacity to call on during the coldest days. The Guardian pipeline's Bluff Creek gate (a city gate, a point where the pipeline hands gas to the utility) is listed in the utility's tariff as a gate of the Lakeshore system that includes the city of Milwaukee.²

Has Milwaukee had other gas supply problems since 2020?

Since 2020, Winter Storm Elliott is the only winter event in which a natural gas reduction in Wisconsin is documented. Other cold events show up mainly as price spikes at the Chicago hub, which concern price, not delivery to Milwaukee.²

• February 2021, Winter Storm Uri. No We Energies curtailment was reported.
• December 2022, Winter Storm Elliott. The Guardian pipeline failure and business gas reductions described above.
• January 2024 and February 2025. No Wisconsin gas interruption was reported in either month.
• January 2026. We Energies reported that it used storage and its new LNG facilities to keep supply steady during the January cold. No Wisconsin gas interruption was reported.

How much spare gas capacity does Milwaukee have?

Little room on the existing system

The utility says there is little spare room on its existing pipeline supply. In its application for new capacity, it stated that interstate pipeline capacity into its system is fully subscribed and that, without additional supply, it would not have enough to meet firm demand starting in winter 2027. State regulatory staff analyzed the utility's 2023 and 2024 gas supply plans. They found reserve margins (the cushion of supply above expected demand) of 5 percent or less, and a significant need for additional capacity.³

Demand growth driven by power plants

Most of the expected new demand comes from power plants. The Commission accepted a firm deliverability requirement of 1,058,474 dekatherms (a unit of gas energy) per day for the Lakeshore Western area in winter 2027-2028, including a planned conversion of the Elm Road generating station. About 94 percent of the expected growth was associated with electric generation, and about 6 percent with all other firm gas customers. Intervenors argued the forecast was uncertain or speculative; the Commission accepted it and required notice and mitigation if the conversion or demand changes.³

The response: Oak Creek LNG

The approved response is a new LNG storage facility, planned for December 2027. On September 29, 2025, the Commission approved it at a construction cost of $456.3 million, excluding financing allowances, subject to conditions.³ The decision does not mention Winter Storm Elliott: it is an investment for forecast growth, not a repair for the 2022 failure, although LNG storage would also supply gas during a future pipeline disruption. The utility reported the project 33 percent complete in the second quarter of 2026, with service planned for December 2027.¹⁰

How the Milwaukee capacity picture has changed, and the next report to watch.¹⁰

What is driving new natural gas demand in the Milwaukee area?

The new demand traces back to power plants built for one very large customer, and no filing reviewed says how much of the generation-driven gas need comes from a data center.⁸

The Commission's separate approval of the Oak Creek combustion turbines (five units of 220 megawatts, 1,100 megawatts in all) found them necessary to meet that customer's requirements. Oak Creek LNG is designed to supply peak-day gas for the utility's existing and proposed gas-fired generation, including those turbines.⁸

Beyond the utility's gas filings, official records, including the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) generator inventory, show these gas-fired projects. The table says whether each one is inside the four counties of the metro area.¹¹

New gas-fired projects in official records, with where each is located and its status in the record.¹¹

EIA's September 2026 inventory lists planned natural gas-fired generators in the four counties only at South Oak Creek. A search of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) notices since January 2025 found none naming those counties with a natural gas pipeline docket.¹¹

On August 12, 2026, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America and Horizon Pipeline applied to FERC for a North Extension Project providing 185,000 dekatherms per day of firm service for We Energies in southern Wisconsin, at an estimated cost of $438,467,975.²⁵ The project includes a lateral (a branch pipeline) of about 11.5 miles from Lake County, Illinois to Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and FERC opened a scoping period with comments due October 22, 2026.²⁶ The notices do not say whether the gas is for power generation, a data center or the distribution system.

Guardian Pipeline filed on July 1, 2026 for its Guardian 3 Expansion Project, about 536,903 dekatherms per day of firm capacity, particularly in Wisconsin, at an estimated cost of about $890 million.²⁷ The project includes removing existing capacity controls at the Bluff Creek Compressor Station in Walworth County, Wisconsin.²⁸

Data centers: As of October 28, 2026, we found no data center gas supply contract. The Commission found the Oak Creek turbines necessary for one customer, the Very Large Customer, which its order describes as a large data center being built in Mount Pleasant; the utility's testimony, as summarized by the Commission, names Microsoft.⁸ The Oak Creek LNG decision itself never mentions data centers. Two other data center items are diesel permits, not natural gas loads: an air permit for 45 emergency generators at the Port Washington data center.³³ The other is a permit revision for Microsoft's Mount Pleasant data centers, covering fire pumps, fuel usage and emission limits.³⁴

Nearby: The Commission said on October 15, 2026 that the Red Oak Ridge Energy Center, proposed by Invenergy in the Town of Paris, Kenosha County, is natural gas-fired generation of up to 1,186 megawatts.²⁹ Its case page gives an estimated completion date of June 30, 2030.³⁰ EIA's inventory lists planned turbines totaling 1,210 MW for December 2029.³¹ The Midcontinent Independent System Operator's queue lists a gas simple-cycle request in Kenosha County; whether it is the same project is not shown.³² None of the records reviewed names a gas supplier or a data center customer for Red Oak Ridge. It is in another county and the filings reviewed give no gas volume, so it does not change the rating.

How large is the new demand?

If run flat out, the new turbines alone would burn gas equal to about 44 percent of the posted operating capacity at one delivery point: Guardian Pipeline's Bluff Creek point into the Milwaukee-area system.⁴ That is one point on one pipeline, not the total pipeline capacity serving Milwaukee.⁵ The table shows this and the other comparisons.

What the new turbines would need from the gas system if they ran at full output (illustrative, not a forecast).⁴

Measured against the data center alone, phase 1 would need about 18 percent of that posted capacity, and about 36 percent if both phases use about 900 MW, a figure from Microsoft's public statements that does not appear in the regulatory filings reviewed. Timing matters, though: the turbines are scheduled for service in August 2028, after the gas need the Commission accepted for winter 2027-2028 begins, and that earlier need includes the planned Elm Road conversion. The data center's gas demand therefore arrives from late 2028 onward.⁵

How full was the main pipeline into Milwaukee last winter?

Last winter, gas scheduled through the main delivery point stayed well below its posted capacity. Guardian Pipeline publishes available capacity and scheduled gas at each delivery point; for its Bluff Creek point, which the utility's tariff lists as a gate to the Lakeshore system serving Milwaukee, we compared the two for 90 gas days from December 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026.⁵

Guardian Pipeline, Bluff Creek delivery point, winter 2025-2026.⁵

The capacity pressure documented in Milwaukee is about extreme peak days, the loss of a supplier as in December 2022, and demand the regulator expects from winter 2027-2028. It is not routine congestion today.⁵

What would a repeat of December 2022 face today?

Interruptible business customers are first in line in an event like this, so service terms are worth checking now.

• Pressure: one supplier fails. In December 2022 the utility could not get extra gas from its other pipelines in extreme cold.²
• Cushion: storage and a record of coping. 2 Bcf of LNG storage has been in service since 2023 and 2024 at Bluff Creek and Ixonia; in 2022, home heating was maintained.²
• Pressure: new generation demand. The Oak Creek turbines are planned for August 2028 and none is expected to run this winter, but the accepted gas need begins in winter 2027-2028.⁸
• Cushion: new LNG. Oak Creek LNG is planned for December 2027, with a design sendout of 300,000 Dth per day.³
• Pressure: cold-weather production losses. Federal staff found that U.S. Lower 48 gas production fell 28 percent in February 2021, during Winter Storm Uri.¹²
• Cushion: headroom at one gate. Last winter, gas scheduled through Guardian's Bluff Creek delivery point had a median of 33 percent of its posted capacity.⁵

Who gets gas first in a shortage?

The utility's gas tariff, not the Oak Creek approvals, sets the order in which customers are cut. In a shortage, the tariff's interruption sequence names interruptible sales customers (classes Ig-4 to Ig-7) and special-contract customers, who are interrupted under their contract terms. Interruptible customers can be interrupted even when no constraint day has been declared. A separate eight-category priority list puts residential use first but governs new gas requests, not the cutting of existing customers. The sequence does not name firm commercial customers or power generators, and the parts of the state's gas service rules (chapter PSC 134) reviewed contain no curtailment order for customer classes.⁷

How the Oak Creek turbines will be supplied is only partly documented. The utility told regulators the new plants would take firm service, and its application targets about 240,000 MMBtu a day of firm supply that it says is not yet available at the site.⁸ It also says interruptible pipeline capacity will be used when firm service is not available. The tariff offers power generators both interruptible and nominated firm service, and the pending rate case proposes new classes of each for the Oak Creek turbines, so the class is not decided.⁷ No order reviewed says whether the data center's electric service can be curtailed.⁸

What does this mean for business gas costs?

Who pays is being decided now

The Commission left recovery of Oak Creek's costs, and how they are divided among customer classes, to a future rate case. A construction approval is not a customer charge, and the construction cost above cannot be divided by customer count or gas volume to estimate an industrial surcharge. Because power generation drives the need, the split between generation and other firm customers will matter to manufacturers.³

In We Energies' current rate case, filed jointly by We Energies and Wisconsin Gas LLC, the utility has proposed assigning the costs of Oak Creek LNG, the Rochester Lateral and other new gas infrastructure to its electric generation customer classes, the power plants that drive the new need.⁴²

Microsoft has opposed that proposal, seeking a revised cost-of-service study for all gas customers or its own modified version. Related proposals would move peak-day pipeline and storage costs from the shared gas cost pool onto generators, and Commission staff support requiring a filing on the feasibility of transportation rates for generators before February 2027.⁶

Commission staff set out these options in an October 2026 decision matrix; the commissioners had not voted as of that month. An industrial customer group is also a party, and We Energies expects new rates in January 2027.⁶

Past capacity-cost allocation

The utility's last decided gas rate case offers history rather than a forecast for Oak Creek.⁴³ The Commission approved class revenue allocations using several cost-of-service studies, over the industrial group's argument that this would shift costs from residential customers to larger transportation customers. The order text does not say how pipeline capacity or storage costs were divided among industrial classes. Its rate appendix does show gas cost components that differ by service type, for example a peak demand component for firm residential sales and none for interruptible sales.⁶

Service terms matter before rates change

The utility's tariff offers commercial and industrial customers firm sales service, firm transportation service, and interruptible sales service with firm distribution capacity. Firm distribution capacity does not make an interruptible gas supply firm. Under the utility's tariff, using gas after an interruption notice can trigger penalties beginning at $2.50 per therm plus incremental costs. No penalties tied to the December 2022 event have been reported; the exposure is contractual.⁷

Kenosha County, Wisconsin

The gas record on this page covers the City of Kenosha, Somers and Pleasant Prairie. It does not cover western Kenosha County, and Kenosha County is not one of the metro's four counties.

Serving utility and operating system. The We Energies gas tariff for Wisconsin Electric - Gas Operations puts the City of Kenosha in the Lakeshore operating system. That is the same system as the City of Milwaukee.¹³ The tariff also puts Somers and Pleasant Prairie in the Lakeshore system. It lists the ANR Racine (Kenosha) gate as a Lakeshore gate.¹⁴

The Lakeshore system record on this page (the Oak Creek LNG decision, the tariff and its interruption terms, and the Guardian postings above) applies to the City of Kenosha, Somers and Pleasant Prairie. No Kenosha-specific supply table, design day (the coldest day the system is planned for) or delivery constraint was found, so the outlook level applies to those places only to the extent that the system record does.

Western Kenosha County: this page has no record. The outlook level does not apply to eight places in western Kenosha County. The same tariff lists them in the Southern operating system. They are the towns of Brighton, Paris, Randall and Wheatland and the villages of Bristol, Paddock Lake, Salem Lakes and Twin Lakes.¹⁵ No record for the Southern system was reviewed, so nothing on this page describes those places.

Territory map. The Commission's natural gas service territory map, dated February 2020, shades the Kenosha County area in the legend color of the We Energies gas company. In the county label area, 400 of 735 sampled points match that color; this is our reading of the map image.¹⁶ The map says its boundaries are approximate, so we do not use it to decide which places are served.¹⁷

New demand in the county. The Red Oak Ridge Energy Center, a natural gas-fired plant, is proposed for the Town of Paris, Kenosha County (see "Nearby" above). The filings reviewed give no gas volume or pipeline, so it does not change the rating.¹⁸ The Commission's case page gives June 30, 2030.³⁰ EIA's inventory lists December 2029, and this page does not choose between the two dates.³¹ The tariff lists the Town of Paris in the Southern operating system, which is the western Kenosha County gap described above.¹⁵

Winter pipeline notices. ANR Pipeline Company ("ANR") limited the Operational Capacity of its Milwaukee Lateral (a branch pipeline) from gas day November 1, 2025.²¹ ANR issued an Operational Flow Order (an order to keep gas flows in balance) on its Two Rivers Lateral in Wisconsin from gas day November 15, 2025, after a line strike.²² It issued another for its ML-7 market zone for January 22 to January 31, 2026, and on January 24 called an underperformance at two groups of Wisconsin delivery locations.²³ None of the notices names Kenosha or a utility, so they do not set the outlook level.¹⁹ ANR's notice export begins in October 2025, so the public record does not show earlier winters.²⁰

What the public record does not show. It has no record for the Southern operating system, and so nothing for the eight places named above. It doesn't show whether the tariff sheets reviewed (issued 2020, effective April 2021, some later) are current, any Kenosha County place not named on those sheets, which pipeline path supplies the Lakeshore places in Kenosha County, or any Kenosha-specific design day.²⁴

Winter and market context

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said on October 15, 2026 that its November 2026 to January 2027 outlook gives the highest odds of warmer than normal conditions to the upper Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes, among other regions; the discussion names regions, not counties.^A1 National gas inventories and EIA's winter outlook say nothing about We Energies' system and are not used for the outlook; they are in the note.⁴⁴

Winter weather and NOAA's outlook

Recent winters in Milwaukee were milder than normal or close to it: heating degree days (a measure of how cold the weather was) at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport, from November to March, were 82%, 96% and 102% of the 1991-2020 normal in winters 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, by our calculation from NOAA data.³⁵ On October 15, 2026, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center leaned toward warmer than normal for both Milwaukee and Kenosha, for November 2026 to January 2027 and December 2026 to February 2027.³⁶ These are probabilities for a three-month average, not a forecast of specific days, and a lean toward warmer weather does not rule out cold days.

What is the outlook for Milwaukee gas capacity through 2029?

Discovery Energy rates the outlook for Milwaukee-area natural gas capacity through 2029 as Watch (confidence: Medium): the Commission accepted a need for more firm gas delivery from winter 2027-2028 and approved Oak Creek LNG, planned for December 2027, to meet it, so demand and supply are planned to arrive almost together.³ Documented risk factors: a recent supply event, the December 2022 Guardian pipeline failure and the business gas reductions described above.² One risk factor does not raise the base level.⁹ Three developments would change the assessment: an Oak Creek LNG delay beyond winter 2027-2028 that leaves demand ahead of usable supply, including whatever the utility's third quarter 2026 progress report, not yet filed, and later reports show; faster or slower generation load, including the pending Elm Road conversion proceeding without the facility or being cancelled; evidence of a shortfall affecting firm customers other than generators.⁴¹

Outlook levels, from least to most concern: Stable, Watch, Elevated, High, Severe. Levels describe the public record of capacity and supply risk; confidence is reported separately. They are qualitative assessments, not forecasts of outages.

What's new (as of October 28, 2026)

FERC staff's planned schedule for the Guardian 3 Expansion Project is an environmental assessment on March 5, 2027 and a final order no later than June 17, 2027.³⁷ On October 15, 2026 the Commission granted conditional certificates of public convenience and necessity for the Red Oak Ridge Energy Center in Kenosha County and the Foundry Ridge Energy Center in Walworth County.³⁹ The Commission held public hearings on September 1, 2026 in Milwaukee on the pending We Energies electric and natural gas rate case, with comments accepted through September 18, 2026.⁴⁰

What should Milwaukee-area manufacturers check now?

• Tariffs and charges, through a utility audit. Confirm each account is on the right rate class and tariff, and that riders, demand charges and capacity-related charges are billed correctly. Over 70% of the clients Discovery Energy has audited were billed incorrectly. An audit verifies tariffs and charges and recovers overcharges before winter costs rise.
• Your actual service election. Confirm whether each account is firm or interruptible, and what that means for supply versus distribution.
• Interruption and penalty terms. Know the notice requirements, unauthorized-use charges and balancing obligations before the next cold-weather event.
• Backup arrangements. Check whether alternate fuel or curtailment plans are feasible and current.
• The rate case and future cost allocation. Track how capacity costs, including Oak Creek, are assigned to industrial classes.

Frequently asked questions

Related case studies

Discovery Energy publishes gas capacity case studies for other metros, using the same method and outlook scale.

• Detroit natural gas capacity case study (outlook: High)
• Chicago natural gas capacity case study (outlook: High)
• Lansing natural gas capacity case study (outlook: Elevated)
• Cincinnati area natural gas capacity case study (outlook: Elevated)
• Boise natural gas capacity case study (outlook: Watch)

All gas capacity ratings by U.S. metro

Notes

1. Scope and boundary: We Energies' natural gas system serving Milwaukee (Wisconsin Electric Power Company's gas operations), January 2020 through October 2026. Metro: Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI MSA per OMB Bulletin No. 23-01, delineation file (title, date and county list confirmed). Place classifications for the projects table are in ``; the county of Mount Pleasant was assigned manually. It does not identify losses at any named business. The counties are Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha. Kenosha County, Wisconsin, is added as a separate area and is not one of the four counties. Items outside the four counties are listed only to describe the utility's system.
2. Timeline sources: We Energies news releases, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly natural gas reports for heating-season weeks, and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin records. The absence of a reported interruption does not prove that none occurred. We Energies customer notices of December 23 and 24, 2022. ↩
3. Final Decision, docket 6630-CG-140 (Oak Creek LNG), September 29, 2025, including staff analysis of reserve margins and the accepted firm deliverability requirement; storage volume measures how much gas is held, not how much can be delivered in a day. ↩
4. Full-output figures are illustrative, not a forecast; the Commission's modeling assumed the turbines would run at no more than a 20 percent annual capacity factor. The turbines serve the whole electric system, not one customer, the 450 MW figure is from the Commission's order, and the 900 MW figure is from Microsoft's public statements as reported in the news; the data-center comparisons show the gas these turbines would need to generate that much electricity, not how the campus is actually supplied. Oak Creek LNG's 2 Bcf is a planned facility, separate from the 2 Bcf already in service at Bluff Creek and Ixonia. Posted operating capacity at Guardian's Bluff Creek point, the base for the 44 percent: 589,360 MMBtu a day. ↩
5. Pipeline postings: based on 446 postings covering all 90 gas days; Guardian's public postings begin November 2, 2025, so earlier winters cannot be compared. The figures are scheduled volumes at one delivery point on one pipeline, not physical flows across the whole system, and they do not address the need projected for winter 2027-2028. ↩
6. Rate cases: Commission docket 5-UR-112 filings listing and draft decision matrix prepared by Commission staff, October 2026 (issues 90 to 109); docket 5-UR-111 Final Decision, December 19, 2024. Staff and party positions are as reported, not Commission decisions. ↩
7. Tariff and rules: Wisconsin Electric Power Company gas tariff, Volume XVI, schedules X-111, X-170, X-215, X-245, X-250, X-255, X-415 and X-425; Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter PSC 134 (official page; section text partly unavailable). ↩
8. Oak Creek turbines: Final Decision, docket 6630-CE-317, July 2, 2025; CPCN application, rebuttal testimony and the quarterly progress report for the second quarter of 2026; Commission Final Decision in docket 6630-TE-113 (Very Large Customer tariff), May 21, 2026; WEC Energy Group investor presentation, August 2026. Intervenors argued the load was speculative. The utility reports the first phase of the Microsoft campus operating since April 2026. ↩
9. Risk factors, Outlook Scale v2.3: F3 is counted (note 2). Not counted: F1, because no filing states Guardian's share of the design day or design hour; F2, because no key contract ending in the window is documented; F4, because the Oak Creek turbines are scheduled for August 2028 and EIA lists February 2028, both after Oak Creek LNG in December 2027, and the Elm Road conversion and Port Washington projects carry no service date or are upgrades; F5, because the fully subscribed statement describes the system need that sets the base level and no gate station inside the four counties is named as limited by an upstream pipeline; F6 and F7, not documented. Base level timing: the accepted need begins "in the winter of 2027" with no month given, and the facility is planned for December 2027, so whether the fix arrives before the need date cannot be determined from sourced dates; Watch is kept until a later report or order settles it. ↩
10. Oak Creek LNG progress reports: the Commission's listing for docket 6630-CG-140, retrieved October 25, 2026, shows reports for the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first and second quarters of 2026, the latest filed July 27, 2026; no third quarter 2026 report is listed (the first and second quarter reports were filed on the 27th of the month after quarter end). The second quarter report is the source of the December 2027 in-service date and 33 percent completion. ↩
11. New-load search (expanded), October 2026: EIA-860M September 2026 Planned sheet filtered by county and Federal Register FERC notices since January 2025 searched by county for pipeline (CP) dockets, both computed; Wisconsin DNR air permit hearing notices (Port Washington permit 25-MIN-093, hearing June 2026; Oak Creek permit 26-MIN-058, hearing September 2026); Commission dockets 5-CE-161 (Elm Road gas fuel flexibility; applicants' transmittal letter and the Commission's filings listing) and the Citizens Utility Board's May 2026 request for contested case hearings in docket 5-CE-161 and four other generation dockets. Not established: MISO interconnection queue entries and the DNR permit decisions; the Foundry Ridge project (Walworth County, outside the four counties) is not shown. News is leads only and none is used. ↩
12. Federal staff, FERC, NERC and Regional Entity, The February 2021 Cold Weather Outages in Texas and the South Central United States (November 2021). ↩
13. We Energies, Wisconsin Electric - Gas Operations (WEGO) gas tariff book, Volume XVI, Schedule X-415, sheet 161.00, Cities (PDF page 152); the rows for the City of Kenosha and the City of Milwaukee both read Operating System 3, Lakeshore. Retrieved October 27, 2026. Sheets issued June 12, 2020 and effective April 1, 2021, some revised later; not checked against a newer filing. ↩
14. We Energies, Wisconsin Electric - Gas Operations (WEGO) gas tariff book, Volume XVI, Schedule X-415 sheets 161.00 to 168.00 (Somers and Pleasant Prairie rows, Operating System 3, Lakeshore) and Schedule X-425, sheet 172.00 (ANR Racine (Kenosha) gate under Operating System 3: Lakeshore, PDF page 158); PDF pages 152 to 158, retrieved October 27, 2026. Sheets issued June 12, 2020 and effective April 1, 2021, some revised later; not checked against a newer filing. ↩
15. We Energies, Wisconsin Electric - Gas Operations (WEGO) gas tariff book, Volume XVI, Schedule X-415, towns and villages sections (sheets 163.00 to 168.00, PDF pages 153 to 157); the rows for Brighton (Kenosha), Paris (Kenosha), Randall (Kenosha), Wheatland (Kenosha), Bristol, Paddock Lake, Salem Lakes and Twin Lakes read Operating System 4, Southern. Retrieved October 27, 2026. Sheets issued June 12, 2020 and effective April 1, 2021, some revised later; not checked against a newer filing. ↩
16. The Commission (Public Service Commission of Wisconsin), Wisconsin Natural Gas Service Territories (map, February 2020), saved October 27, 2026. The legend color match is a reading of the map graphic, and the map says its boundaries are approximate. Low-strength evidence for the serving utility in Kenosha County. ↩
17. The Commission (Public Service Commission of Wisconsin), Wisconsin Natural Gas Service Territories (map, February 2020), saved October 27, 2026. The legend color match is a reading of the map graphic, and the map says its boundaries are approximate. Low-strength evidence for the serving utility in Kenosha County. ↩
18. Commission dockets as found in the expanded search for planned gas load, October 2026: EIA-860M September 2026 Planned sheet filtered by county and Federal Register FERC notices since January 2025 searched by county for pipeline (CP) dockets, both computed; Wisconsin DNR air permit hearing notices and Commission filings searched by county. News is leads only and none is used. Not established: MISO interconnection queue entries and the DNR permit decisions. ↩
19. ANR Pipeline Company, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted October 1, 2025 to October 27, 2026, Notices 25961620, 25965114, 25974432 and 25975909. Manual browser download, October 27, 2026. ↩
20. ANR Pipeline Company, critical notices on TC eConnects, posted October 1, 2025 to October 27, 2026, Notices 25961620, 25965114, 25974432 and 25975909. Manual browser download, October 27, 2026. ↩
21. ANR Pipeline Company, Curtailment Notice 25961620, October 30, 2025, critical notices on TC eConnects. Manual browser download, October 27, 2026. The limit applies when shipper requests (nominations) for Wisconsin and Sandwich Northbound are at or above about 83% of 2,443,716 Dth (dekatherms, a unit of gas energy); the Operational Capacity is limited to 459,051 Dth. ↩
22. ANR Pipeline Company, Operational Flow Order Notice 25965114, November 14, 2025, critical notices on TC eConnects. Manual browser download, October 27, 2026. ↩
23. ANR Pipeline Company, Operational Flow Order Notice 25974432, January 21, 2026, critical notices on TC eConnects. Manual browser download, October 27, 2026. On January 24 ANR called an underperformance, a shortfall against scheduled flows, on two groups of Wisconsin delivery locations. ↩
24. We Energies, Wisconsin Electric - Gas Operations (WEGO) gas tariff book, Volume XVI, Schedule X-415 sheets 161.00 to 168.00 and Schedule X-425 sheet 172.00 (PDF pages 152 to 158), retrieved October 27, 2026. Sheets issued June 12, 2020 and effective April 1, 2021, some revised later; not checked against a newer filing. ↩
25. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), Natural Gas Pipeline Co of America / Horizon Pipeline Notice of Application, CP26-564-000, dated 2026-08-24, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice, paragraph 1 (Notice of Application). ↩
26. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), North Extension Project Notice of Scoping Period, CP26-564-000, dated 2026-09-25, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice, Summary of the Proposed Project. ↩
27. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), Guardian Pipeline Notice of Application, Guardian 3 Expansion Project, CP26-548-000, dated 2026-07-17, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice (Notice of Application), paragraph 1. ↩
28. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), Guardian Pipeline Notice of Application, Guardian 3 Expansion Project, CP26-548-000, dated 2026-07-17, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice (Notice of Application), paragraph 1. ↩
29. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Press release: PSC Statement on Foundry Ridge Energy Project, Red Oak Ridge Energy Center Project, Oct 15, 2026, 9837-CE-100, dated 2026-10-15, saved 2026-10-28; PDF page 3. ↩
30. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Red Oak Ridge Energy Center Project case page, Docket 9837-CE-100, undated, saved 2026-10-28; Application Summary section. The case page also gives five 242 MW gas turbines and says the project is proposed by an independent power producer. ↩
31. U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA-860M Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, September 2026 (released Oct 23, 2026), dated 2026-10-23, saved 2026-10-28; Planned sheet: 5 units (CT4, CT5, RDOR1-RDOR3) at 242.0 MW each, 1210 MW total, Kenosha County WI, planned Dec 2029 (computed). ↩
32. Midcontinent Independent System Operator, MISO generator interconnection queue (public API), dated 2026-10-28, saved 2026-10-28; queue entry J4165: state WI, county Kenosha, fuelType Gas, facilityType Combustion Turbine (Simple Cycle), summerNetMW 1203.0, applicationStatus Active, inService 2030-05-01. The queue entry is project J4165, a 1,203 MW gas simple-cycle request with an in-service date of May 1, 2030. ↩
33. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Port Washington Data Center Proposal (Vantage) project page, 25-MIN-094, dated 2026-06-12, saved 2026-10-28; AIR PERMIT APPLICATIONS section. The air construction permit was issued June 12, 2026 for 45 diesel-fired emergency generators. ↩
34. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Notice of Public Hearing, Microsoft Mount Pleasant Data Centers (published Apr 10, 2026), 25-MIN-133, dated 2026-04-10, saved 2026-10-28; Notice text. The public hearing was noticed for April 28, 2026. ↩
35. NOAA Regional Climate Centers, Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) StnData web service, monthly heating degree days (base 65F) and 1991-2020 normals, November to March of winters 2023-24 to 2025-26, retrieved October 26 to 28, 2026: MILWAUKEE MITCHELL AIRPORT. Sums computed. Heating degree days behind the percentages: 4,159, 4,876 and 5,128 in winters 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26, against a 1991-2020 normal of 5,052. ↩
36. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, seasonal temperature outlook issued October 15, 2026, shapefiles lead1 (November to January) and lead2 (December to February) from ftp.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/GIS/us_tempprcpfcst/seastemp_202610.zip, read at each metro's coordinates. The map gives the favored category and the lower edge of its probability band; NOAA's own explanation (Link) keeps near-normal at 33.3% and gives the opposite category the rest, so the above-normal figure is a floor and the below-normal figure a ceiling. The chances are at least 50% above-normal, about 33% near-normal and no more than 17% below-normal. ↩
37. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), Guardian 3 Expansion Project Notice of Schedule for Environmental Assessment, CP26-548-000, dated 2026-09-29, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice, Schedule for Environmental Review. ↩
38. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Federal Register), Natural Gas Pipeline Co of America / Horizon Pipeline Notice of Application, CP26-564-000, dated 2026-08-24, saved 2026-10-28; Federal Register notice, paragraph 1.
39. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Press release: PSC Statement on Foundry Ridge Energy Project, Red Oak Ridge Energy Center Project, Oct 15, 2026, 9837-CE-100, dated 2026-10-15, saved 2026-10-28; PDF page 1. ↩
40. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Press release: Public Input Opportunities for Pending Utility Rate Cases, Aug 25, 2026, 5-UR-112, dated 2026-08-25, saved 2026-10-28; PDF page 2. ↩
41. Elm Road conversion: Commission docket 5-CE-161 (pending), the docket named in the Outlook section. ↩
42. The current We Energies and Wisconsin Gas LLC rate case is docket 5-UR-112 of the Commission; this note supports the rate case sentences in the rate case section and in the FAQ answer on who will pay for Oak Creek LNG. ↩
43. The last decided gas rate case is docket 5-UR-111, December 2024. ↩
44. National and regional market facts not used for the outlook: on October 6, 2026 the U.S. Energy Information Administration said it expects U.S. natural gas inventories to enter the winter heating season 2% above the previous five-year average (source A2), and its October 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook says prolonged periods of cold weather could increase withdrawals beyond its forecast (source A3). The NOAA Climate Prediction Center discussion of October 15, 2026 also names Southeast Alaska among the regions with the highest odds of warmer than normal conditions. ↩

Market and weather sources

Official public sources retrieved October 25, 2026. They are separate from the record notes above.

1. A1. NOAA Climate Prediction Center, Prognostic Discussion for Long-Lead Seasonal Outlooks, October 15, 2026. Link ↩
2. A2. U.S. Energy Information Administration, press release, "EIA expects a mixed picture for winter fuel costs this year," October 6, 2026. Link
3. A3. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, October 2026. Link

Sources

1. We Energies, customer notice on interstate pipeline supply reduction and conservation request, December 23, 2022, and update identifying the Guardian pipeline and lifting the conservation request, December 24, 2022.
2. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Final Decision, docket 6630-CG-140 (Oak Creek LNG), signed September 29, 2025, including staff analysis of reserve margins and the accepted firm deliverability requirement; staff Environmental Assessment, December 2024; Oak Creek LNG quarterly progress reports, fourth quarter 2025 to second quarter 2026, and the Commission's filings listing retrieved October 25, 2026.
3. Wisconsin Electric Power Company, gas operations tariff: service classification index and sheets X-215, X-415 and X-425; Volume XVI schedules X-111, X-170, X-245, X-250 and X-255.
4. WEC Energy Group, investor presentations, March 2024 (Bluff Creek and Ixonia LNG facilities) and August 2026 (Microsoft Mount Pleasant campus status); We Energies news releases, February 5 and March 5, 2026.
5. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, docket 5-UR-112 filings listing and draft decision matrix prepared by Commission staff, October 2026; docket 5-UR-111, Final Decision, December 19, 2024; We Energies rate review announcement, April 2026.
6. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Final Decision, docket 6630-CE-317 (Oak Creek combustion turbines), July 2, 2025, with the CPCN application, applicant rebuttal testimony and exhibit; Final Decision, docket 6630-TE-113 (Very Large Customer tariff), May 21, 2026.
7. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, docket 5-CE-161 (Elm Road Generating Station gas fuel flexibility): applicants' transmittal letter, October 20, 2025, and filings listing; Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, request for contested case hearings, May 29, 2026.
8. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, public notices of air pollution control permit application reviews for the Port Washington Generating Station and the Oak Creek Power Plant, 2026; U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA-860M Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, September 2026, and Federal Register notices of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission searched by county.
9. Office of Management and Budget, OMB Bulletin No. 23-01, July 21, 2023.
10. Guardian Pipeline, L.L.C. (DT Midstream), public Operationally Available Capacity postings, gas days December 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026.
11. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Weekly Update issues (February 2021, February 2022, December 2022, January 2024, February 2025) and monthly Wisconsin citygate and Henry Hub price tables.
12. FERC, NERC and Regional Entity staff, The February 2021 Cold Weather Outages in Texas and the South Central United States (November 2021).
13. Wisconsin Administrative Code, chapter PSC 134, Standards for Gas Service (official page, retrieved October 15, 2026; section text partly unavailable).
14. Wisconsin Natural Gas Service Territories (map, February 2020), the Commission. Link
15. ANR Pipeline Company, critical and non-critical notices, TC eConnects, saved October 27, 2026 (manual browser download).

Figures are as reported in the sources above, as of October 2026. Requested amounts, approved amounts and customer charges are kept separate; no customer charge for Oak Creek LNG or for the December 2022 event had been set as of October 2026. - Wisconsin Natural Gas Service Territories (map, February 2020), the Commission. https://psc.wi.gov/SiteAssets/Maps/Natural_Gas_11x17_PUBLIC.pdf - ANR Pipeline Company, critical and non-critical notices, TC eConnects, saved October 27, 2026 (manual browser download).