The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on Oct. 2, 2025 approved a construction authorization for the Rochester Lateral Project (RLP), permitting Wisconsin Electric Gas Operations to install approximately 33 miles of 24‑inch and 30‑inch steel natural gas transmission main across portions of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties. The commission estimated the preferred‑route construction cost at $200,894,000, excluding allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC).

Chairperson Strand, who led the docket discussion, said the record shows growing near‑term natural‑gas demand tied to several generation projects and that the utility had “reasonably shown how this proposed RLP project will address those needs and the applicant's service obligations.” Strand invoked related approvals — the Oak Creek Combustion Turbine Project (OCCT), the Paris RICE project and an Oak Creek liquefied natural gas facility — and the applicant’s planned Elm Road generating station upgrade as context for the need.

Commissioners emphasized safety, environmental effects and cost allocation in choosing a preferred route. Strand said the commission weighed cost and constructability alongside environmental impacts and safety, noting that the preferred route avoided residences in Kansasville and avoided greater impacts to wetlands and upland forest areas that some alternate routes would have caused. Strand also referenced the pipeline safety team’s review and a robust routing analysis submitted by the applicant.

Commissioner Hawkins sought to reassure area legislators and the public about rate‑design oversight. “We are the ones that are in charge of that,” Hawkins said, rejecting the suggestion in a public letter that the utility alone would assign costs to customers if load projections did not materialize. The commission said cost allocation will be addressed in a future proceeding and added a modified reporting requirement so the utility must provide information in a future rate case about how it developed the cost‑allocation methodology for the project.

The commission added several project‑specific conditions focused on safety, construction reporting, environmental protections for Department of Natural Resources properties, and quarterly reporting. The docket record includes a condition requiring the utility to notify the commission within 30 days if anticipated or actual firm deliverability requirements meaningfully decrease or if the applicant decides not to pursue or modifies the scope of its planned Elm Road natural‑gas conversion; that notification must include a description of scope changes.

Key technical and geographic details

• Applicant: Wisconsin Electric Gas Operations (docket 6630‑CG‑139).
• Project name: Rochester Lateral Project (RLP).
• Approximate length: ~33 miles of 24‑inch and 30‑inch steel transmission main.
• Route area: towns of Brighton, Dover, and Norway; villages of Rochester, Raymond, and Caledonia; city of Oak Creek; counties: Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee.
• Estimated cost: $200,894,000 (does not include AFUDC).

Motion and outcome

Commissioner Christian Nieto moved to approve the Rochester Lateral Project with the conditions discussed; Commissioner Hawkins seconded. The motion passed on a unanimous voice vote: Chair Strand — aye; Commissioner Nieto — aye; Commissioner Hawkins — aye.

What the authorization does — and does not — do

The authorization permits construction along the commission’s approved preferred route with the attached conditions; it does not itself finalize cost allocation in rates. Commissioners required the applicant to submit future rate‑case information that includes, but is not limited to, projections of how costs would be allocated among natural‑gas system customers and the Oak Creek combustion turbine and Elm Road conversion over time given expected in‑service dates and projected consumption levels. The commission also incorporated safety conditions (including cathodic protection surveys and other final‑design requirements) and limited, project‑specific environmental protections for DNR properties.

Background and context

The applicant told the commission that without the RLP it would be unable to serve nearly half of its projected natural‑gas demand in 2027–28 given recent approvals and planned gas‑fired generation in the utility’s service territory. The commission found the record demonstrated the project is permittable and that, with the agreed conditions and further reporting, the route and construction can proceed.