MISO Region at High Risk in 2028
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its Long-Term Reliability Assessment, and it shows the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, which includes Wisconsin, as the most vulnerable in the nation to grid instability.
Nationwide, the report shows peak demand and energy growth forecasts over the next 10 years continue to climb higher than at any point in the past two decades.
Most of the projected increase is due to “new data centers for artificial intelligence and the digital economy.”
According to NERC, in the MISO region, “Projected resource additions do not keep pace with escalating demand forecasts and announced generator retirements.” The MISO region risk is “normal” in 2026, “elevated” in 2027, and “high” in 2028.
Data Centers Fall Out of Favor
Despite best efforts to ensure data centers are a value-add and not a drain for ratepayers, most people don’t want them in their area.
Results of a Marquette Law School poll found only 37% of those polled nationwide believe the benefits of data centers outweigh the costs, while 62% say the costs outweigh the benefits. According to a Heatmap poll, only 44% of Americans would support a data center built in their area.
The need for more data centers and the energy to run them has come on fast in recent years, to accommodate artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other internet services.
Phil Irwin’s Final Presentation
Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange President and CEO Phil Irwin is retiring after more than three decades with Federated. He joined in 1988 as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. He has served as president and CEO since 2006.
At WECA’s Education & Lobby Days in January, Irwin urged co-op leaders to stay vigilant on safety to reduce electrical contacts. He also talked about the impact of wildfires on the insurance industry, saying losses from wildfires topped $37 billion in just the first half of 2025, more than double any other year.
Irwin wrapped his remarks by thanking attendees for the many friendships formed over the years and recognizing that Federated got its start with Wisconsin’s electric cooperatives.
Energy Assistance Programs Survive Budget Cuts
Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed, a spending bill that is part of an appropriations package that will fund most government agencies through September, and it includes $4.05 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program, known as WHEAP in Wisconsin.
The funds help lower-income households pay for heating and cooling costs. Households with income below 60% of the state’s median income can apply.
The program was among those facing funding cuts under the Trump administration, but in the bill, LIHEAP actually received an additional $20 million in funding. Wisconsin received more than $100 million in LIHEAP funds in 2024.
The bill does include $500 million in cuts to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, intended to help states install electric vehicle chargers on major corridors.
PAC Auction Breaks Records
The 2026 Wisconsin Electric Cooperative’s Political Action Committee auction and fundraiser held in conjunction with WECA’s Education & Lobby Days was record-breaking.
This year, attendees stepped up with amazing donations and generous bids, and smashed the previous fundraising record with a total of $24,618. Last year’s event brought in $15,290, which at the time was the second highest ever, and the most raised since pre-COVID.
This year’s live auction alone raised $21,820. The top-earning donations were four sets of two Green Bay Packer tickets.
Singerhouse Elected State PAC Director
Dunn Energy Cooperative CEO Jesse Singerhouse was nominated and unanimously elected to the position of state PAC director at WECA’s Education & Lobby Days. Roger Wiff, Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services board director and PAC member since 1988, just wrapped his final year in the position.
“I just think it’s a great organization,” Singerhouse said. “We’re not a huge PAC; we’re not going to contribute large sums of money to candidates, but our power is the grassroots, the number of people we have. The PAC helps us open the door a little further and gets us into some conversations, and that’s why I want to be part of it and help Rob [Richard, CEO] and the team at WECA keep the PAC growing and keep advocating for electric co-op members.”
MISO Issues Max Gen Event
As temperatures plummeted and massive ice and snowstorm stretched across the nation’s midsection in late January, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO) issued a rare “Max Gen” event to protect the grid.
According to Dairyland Power Cooperative, in addition to the cold, higher than forecasted load and forced generation outages resulted in MISO declaring the event on Saturday, January 24.
When a Max Gen Event is declared, MISO is signaling that the regional grid is at an increased risk of not being able to provide enough power to meet consumer needs. By issuing a Max Gen Event, MISO was able to call upon additional resources to help balance electricity supply and demand.
At the most critical point of the frigid storm, MISO data show wind and solar provided about 3% of energy, while natural gas, coal, and nuclear provided the bulk of the load.