November 3, 2024

WEC Energy Group Overview

WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group

Introduction

WEC Energy Group is a leading natural gas and electric holding company located in the Midwestern region of the United State of America. Its headquarters is situated on the coast of  Milwaukee, Wisconsin serving more than 4.6 million active customers in four major states in the United States which are Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Fully committed to conducting business with a relatively high level of integrity, serving as a business value that forms the basic foundation of all its actions and decision, the company also maintain and control the ownership in the  American Transmission Co, a company is regulated federally. Sequel to its vast scale and geographical proximity, Wec Energy Group’s operating efficiency spans 71, 000 miles of transmission lines and electric distribution, including 7,700 megawatts of power capacity. In addition to the company’s worth, WEC Infrastructure, LLC owns and controls a growing and evolving fleet of renewable generation plants in the Midwest. In this piece, however, you would be shown a comprehensive and extensive overview of the company’s dealings and their aspects. As such, all relevant information detailing its historical background, its key facts, its affiliated brands and service locations, its financial overview, as well as its pros and cons would be concisely covered to enable you to understand the significant key major elements of the company as quickly as possible.. 

Key Facts 

Year of Existence: WEC Energy Group was founded in 1896, with approximately 126 years of industrial experience  

Customer Strength: WEC Energy Group serves more than 4.6 million active customers in four major states in the United States which are Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

Industry Type: Diversified Utilities 

Industrial Ranking: A Fortune 500 Company 

Business Type: Public Corporation (PLC) 

Trading Type: WEC Energy Group’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market under the ticker name, WEC 

Staff Strength: WEC Energy Group has more than 8, 000 employees in its workforce 

History 

Although due to its long-shot of existing years in the energy industry spanning over a century, WEC Energy Group’s history is a long documentary piece to study, however, for the sake of brevity, this article will try as much as possible to distilled its vast history into the major part, and this would be done in the succeeding lines. 

WEC Energy Group began its history in 1896 when two separate companies, Light Company and The Milwaukee Electric Railway formed as an affiliate of the North American Company to provide and avail inter-urban related rail service in the west region of Wisconsin spanning over 12, 000-spare-mile, approximately 31, 000 km square. After the merger, the company began the sale of electricity that is not needed to power the interurban trains to companies and private individuals who need them.  

1919 – 1946 

In the year 1919, the company discovered how the use of pulverized coal could reduce the cost of producing conserved fuel and electric power. In 1921, North American Company formed Wisconsin Electric Power to build and operate the Lakeside Power Plant located in St. Francis, Wisconsin, and according to research, Lakeside was the world’s first power facility to burn pulverized coal independently. In 1938, Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light were conjoined into Wisconsin Electric. And in 1946, Wisconsin Electric went through several acquisition deals purchasing Wisconsin Gas & Electric Co. And Wisconsin Michigan Power Company which had also been under the North American Co.  

1947 – 2000 

In the year 1953 Wisconsin Electric services the first 120-megawatts unit located at the Oak Creek Power Plant. And that led to the completion of seven more units in 1968. In 1970, 908-megawatts Point Beach Nuclear Plant belonging to Wisconsin Electric began its operation and gained global recognition for efficiency and performance. In 1980, the first 580 megawatts in stock at Pleasant Prairie was placed  Wisconsin Electric into service, and in 1985, it added a second unit. 1987 witnessed the company’s restructuring as a holding company under the name Wisconsin Energy Corporation, having Wispark, Wisconsin Electric, and Witech as its divisions. In the year 1994, Wisconsin Energy Corporation bought Wisconsin Southern Gas Co., a  Lake Geneva-based power holding company. The acquisition led to an amalgamation of both companies with Wisconsin Electric in the succeeding year. In 1998,  Wisconsin Energy Corporation purchased ESELCO mother company of the Edison Sault Electric Company located in Sault Ste. Marie, the axis of Michigan. And finally, in the year 2000, WICOR, a holding company of Wisconsin Gas was merged into  Wisconsin Energy Corporation, making the corporation to rank as the largest electric and natural gas supplier and provider in entire Wisconsin. In that same year, the company also pronounced its 10-year-based plan to invest 7 Billion USD into building five new power plants across its region, improve the distribution of its electric system, and upgrade existing plants. 

2001 -2010 

In the year 2001,  Wisconsin Energy Corporation transferred the ownership of its transmission lines to the America Transmission Company, the first multi-state and all transmission utility across the United State in a bid to buy part of the company’s share. In 2002,  Wisconsin Energy Corporation’s subsidiaries, Wisconsin Gas and Wisconsin Electric began joint business under the name, We Energies. In 2004,  Wisconsin Energy Corporation rids of part of its WICOR assets that are non-energy related for 850, Million USD in a bid to focus more on its core market and businesses. In the year 2007,  Wisconsin Energy Corporation leased its Point Beach Nuclear Plant to FPL Energy for a total sum of 924 Million USD, however, in the deal, We Energies is still entitled to the for the plant’s life. Additionally, in the year 2009,  We Energies was granted the approval to build and operate the Glacier Hills Wind Park locate in Wisconsin’s Columbia County. Moving at the same pace, the company also announced its plan to build a biomass generating plant at the Domtar paper mill axis in Rothschild, Wisconsin. And, finally, on February 2, in the year 2010,  the first two 615-megawatt coal-fueled stocked at the company’s Oak Creek expansion site begins commercial operation. 

2011 – 2017 

On January 12, 2011, the second of the 615-megawatt coal-fueled units stocked at the company’s Oak Creek expansion site becomes operating commercially As a result, Glacier Hills Wind Park started operating 90 turbines in the towns of Scott and Randolph in Wisconsin. In the year 2013, another 50-megawatt, biomass-based started commercial operation in a bid to provide base-load steam to the Domtar paper mill and power for the electric system. In 2014, bought the mother company of  North Shore Gas, People’s Gas, and Wisconsin Public for a total sum of 9.1 Billion USD. In the year 2015, Wisconsin Energy Corporation bought Integrys energy Group for a total sum of 9.1 Billion USD deal. And lastly, in the year 2017, WEC Energy Group bought a Michigan-based company operating under the name, Bluewater Gas Storage to make provision for WEC Energy Group’s one-third entire gas storage needs.  

Divisions and Affiliates 

MICHIGAN GAS UTILITIES CORPORATION 

UPPER MICHIGAN ENERGY RESOURCES 

MINNESOTA ENERGY RESOURCES CORPORATION 

PEOPLE’S ENERGY  

NORTH SHORE GAS 

WISCONSIN RIVER POWER COMPANY 

WISPARK 

WEC INFRASTRUCTURE 

BLUEWATER GAS STORAGE 

WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 

WE ENERGIES 

Key Financials 

Revenue: 7. 65 Billion USD  

Net Operating Cashflow: 1 Billion USD 

Total Asset: 40 Billion USD 

Net Income: 580 Million USD 

Pros

Sufficient and Adequate Industrial Experience: With its existence since 1896, and approximately 126 years of accumulated industry experience, WEC Energy Group no doubt has sufficient experience to give its customers clean, and reliable energy.  

Dedicated and Committed to Sustainable Development: WEC Energy Group is committed to giving its best in terms of delivering its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as it fosters and supports both social and environmental-oriented programs.  

Conglomeration Ranking: WEC Energy Group is ranked enlisted on the Fortune 500 list indicating the company as one of the largest corporations in the United States 

Great and Amusing Work Environment: Research affirms that most employees at WEC Group are impressed to work WEC Energy Group workplace.   

Cons

Limited Market Reach: WEC Energy Group has a relatively low market reach as it only covers four major states in the United States which are Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

Human Capital Knowledge Gap: A research review from Glassdoor indicates the company has some leadership positions controlled by people who don’t have adequate knowledge of the field. 

Slow Onboard Process: Some employees at WEC Energy Group claim the company’s onboarding process for new absorb roles is relatively slow.  

Conclusion

It is quite amusing that despite the long-shot of years since the inception of WEC Energy Group, the corporation has continued to increase its growth exponentially hitherto this day, although the secret to this is not quite far fetched, it is, however, the company’s ability and acumen to deceiver on time its core business niches and focus on them. Finally, with all being said in the foregoing sections of this piece, I hope your expectation, as promised in the introductory part of this piece has been met, and that you have adequately absorbed all there is to know about WEC Energy Group.