WEC · 10-Q · 2026Q2 · Full report

Market Demand Trends

WEC ENERGY GROUP, INC. · 2026-08-04 · Importance 26 · Surprise 24 · In source text

Wisconsin’s second-quarter 2026 electric retail sales increased by 253.3 thousand MWh year over year, driven by a 289.5 thousand MWh increase in large commercial and industrial sales, including demand associated with very large customers. Residential electric sales declined by 28.2 thousand MWh, while natural gas retail sales declined by 29.6 million therms as warmer spring weather reduced heating demand. Weather-normalized customer growth added $20.2 million to Wisconsin margins and was driven by the impact of very large customers, substantially offsetting a $20.4 million unfavorable weather impact. In Illinois, natural gas sales declined 35.7 million therms, including a 19.2% reduction in heating degree days, while other states recorded a 13.4 million therm increase primarily from transportation volumes.

Key facts

Vantage Data Centers is developing a large data center campus in Port Washington that is forecasted to add 1.3 GWs of demand through 2030. source
WECI had a $4.9 million increase in capacity revenues due to strong capacity pricing in the second quarter of 2026. source
Illinois segment total natural gas sales for the three months ended June 30, 2026 were 260.7 million therms, compared with 296.4 million therms in the same quarter of 2025, a decrease of 35.7 million therms. source
Electric total retail sales in the Wisconsin segment were 17,994.1 MWh (in thousands) for the six months ended June 30, 2026. source
Total sales in MWh for the Wisconsin segment were 20,426.7 (in thousands) for the six months ended June 30, 2026, a decrease of 858.1 compared with 2025. source
Natural gas total sales for the Wisconsin segment were 1,809.2 million therms for the six months ended June 30, 2026, a decrease of 67.3 million therms versus 2025. source
Natural gas total sales in the Illinois segment were 1,119.0 million therms for the six months ended June 30, 2026, a decrease of 67.2 million therms versus 2025. source

Impact estimates

metric	direction	stage	expected	basis
revenue	positive	probable	—	Vantage Data Centers is developing a large data center campus in Port Washington that is forecasted to add 1.3 GWs of demand through 2030.