Company: WELPM
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000107815-25-000105
Chunk: 64

Company: WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER CO
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 64
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 disposable income and increases in energy prices. Conservation of energy can be influenced by certain federal and state programs that are intended to influence how consumers use energy. For example, several states, including Wisconsin, have adopted energy efficiency targets to reduce energy consumption. 

As part of our planning process, we estimate the impacts of changes in customer growth and general economic conditions, weather, and customer energy conservation efforts, but risks still remain. The growth of data centers and development of associated technology may make it more difficult to accurately forecast customer demand or to recover additional costs. Any of these matters, as well as any regulatory delay in adjusting rates as a result of reduced sales from effective conservation measures or the adoption of new technologies, could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, elimination or reduced financial support of programs that provide energy assistance to our customers, including the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, could impact the demand for energy and/or adversely impact our liquidity.

Our operations are subject to the effects of global climate change.

A changing climate creates uncertainty and could result in broad changes, both physical and financial in nature, to our service territory. If climate changes occur that result in extreme temperatures in our service territory, our financial results could be adversely impacted by lower electric and natural gas usage and higher natural gas costs. An extreme weather event could result in downed wires and poles, as well as damage to wind and solar generation facilities, or other operating equipment. This could result in us incurring significant restoration costs and foregoing sales of energy and lost revenues. Extreme weather in summer could cause electric load to be interrupted or certain customers to be curtailed who participate in load management programs. Additionally, an extreme weather event could also cause the cost of natural gas purchased for our natural gas utility customers and for the use of fuel at our generation facilities to be temporarily driven significantly higher than our normal winter weather expectations. Although we have a regulatory mechanism in place for recovering all prudently incurred natural gas costs, our regulators could disallow recovery or order the refund of any costs determined to be imprudent. 

In addition, our operations could be adversely affected and our facilities placed at greater risk of damage should changes in global climate produce, among other possible conditions, unusual variations in temperature and weather patterns, which could result in more intense, frequent and extreme weather events, such as storms, including derecho events, with high winds, lightning, and hail, floods, drought, wild fires, tornadoes, snow and ice storms, or abnormal levels of precipitation. Extreme weather may result