Company: WELPM
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000107815-25-000105
Chunk: 56

Company: WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER CO
Filing Date: 2025-02-21
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 56
---
 to, among other things, air emissions (including, but not limited to: CO2, methane, mercury, SO2, and NOx), protection of natural resources, water quality, wastewater discharges, and management of hazardous and toxic substances and solid wastes and soils. The EPA has recently adopted and implemented new environmental regulations, which include regulations that govern the emission of NOx, ozone, fine particulates, and other air pollutants under the Clean Air Act through the NAAQS, climate change, other air quality regulations, and water quality regulations. For example, in 2024, the EPA revised the effluent guidelines for steam electric generating plants, published a final rule lowering the PM limit under the MATS, lowered the primary (health-based) annual PM 2.5 NAAQS, published the Greenhouse Gas Power Plant Rule for fossil-fired steam generating units, issued a final Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, and finalized a rule for CCR that applies to landfills, historic fill sites, and projects where CCR was placed at a power plant site. Some of these rules could be challenged or reviewed by agencies under the new presidential administration, which creates additional uncertainty. As a result of these potential challenges and reviews, existing environmental laws and regulations may be revised or new laws or regulations may be adopted at the federal, state, or local level.

Certain of our service territory is located in areas determined to be in "serious" nonattainment status under the EPA's ozone standard. This nonattainment status could affect future permitting activities for our facilities, including additional costs associated with more strenuous emission control requirements or the need to purchase emission reduction credits. In addition, economic growth in these areas may be constrained by the inability to obtain the required permits, limiting investment and expansion over the coming years, including our ability to execute on our capital plan. 

We incur significant capital and operating resources to comply with environmental laws, regulations, and requirements, including costs associated with the installation of pollution control equipment; operating restrictions on our facilities; and environmental monitoring, emissions fees, and permits at our facilities. The operation of emission control equipment and compliance with rules regulating our intake and discharge of water could also increase our operating costs and reduce the generating capacity of our power plants. These regulations may create substantial additional costs in the form of taxes or emission allowances and could affect the availability and/or cost of fossil fuels and our ability to continue operating certain generating units. Failure to comply with these laws, regulations, and requirements, even if caused by factors beyond our