We Energies gave Sara Rodriguez thousands after vote favoring utility tax loophole

Democratic candidate for governor Sara Rodriguez has previously accepted political donations from We Energies while crossing party lines to support giving the utility company a tax loophole. 

Rodriguez, the current lieutenant governor, took three donations from the corporate PAC of WEC Energy, the parent company of We Energies, totaling $13,800, between 2020 and 2023. 

In 2021, she was one of just four Democrats who voted with every single Republican on AB 191 — a bill to repeal the personal property tax. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it, warning it could exempt utility personal property from ad valorem taxes and cost Wisconsin “tens of millions in general fund tax revenue, if not more.” In his veto statement, Evers specifically flagged “the potential for the state to lose millions in taxes owed by utility companies.”

After this vote, in 2022, Rodriguez accepted a $12,800 contribution from WEC Energy. Rodriguez has said she was directed by Evers campaign to accept the donation, but Mandela Barnes refused those contributions as Evers’ running mate. Rodriguez also took $500 from We Energies in 2020 as a state legislator, as well as another $500 while she was a sitting Lt. Governor.

Utility costs have become a prominent issue in the race for governor. Wisconsin’s utility monopolies have nation-leading profits, but continue to increase costs for Wisconsin ratepayers, causing a quarter of Wisconsin households to miss utility payments and more than a third to cut back on food and medicine to keep the lights on.

We Energies recorded over a billion dollars in income last year and paid their executives over $32 million, while customers report increases of more than $300 per month. Since 2020, We Energies has hiked energy rates five times. Under their latest proposed rate increase, Wisconsinites would pay 43.4% more for electricity in 2028 than 2020. Southeast Wisconsin customers have reported “shocking” bill increases, with some customers reporting increases of more than $300 compared to previous months.

WEC has worked to block the expansion of community-based solar projects in Wisconsin. We Energies has been at the forefront of Wisconsin’s data center expansion and passed a rate hike that puts ratepayers on the hook for data center energy costs.

We Energies has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Wisconsin Republicans, including Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany. WEC gave $364,555 to Walker alone and has given $11,500 to Tiffany’s congressional campaign. Tiffany is the Republican candidate for governor. 

In a recent policy forum, Rodriguez failed to mention that she accepted political contributions from We Energies. 

Rodriguez was asked: What would you do to close loopholes that enable utility companies to use ratepayers’ money to fund lobbying, political expenses, and to stop skyrocketing executive pay and stock packages, including tens of millions of dollars for WE Energies’ top executives in 2025? 

“So, I appreciate this question, because I do think it is really important for ratepayers to know that they have a governor who’s going to fight for them,” she said. “So as governor, I would fight for the Utility Accountability and Transparency Act. I mean, the three pillars to that: Full disclosure and prohibition. Every dollar a Wisconsin utility spends on lobbying or trade association dues, on political contributions, has to be paid for by the shareholders, not by the ratepayers. And it’s got to be disclosed publicly. And, they can… the shareholders can spend their own money lobbying. They can’t spend yours as ratepayers.”

Rodriguez’s campaign told the Milwaukee Courier on June 22 that she has not accepted any corporate PAC money, including from utility companies, in her run for governor.

Rodriguez wouldn’t say if she regretted voting for AB 191 before accepting funds from We Energies. 

“Lt. Governor Rodriguez has always made decisions about legislation or policy based on what’s best for Wisconsin, not a campaign contribution,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “Since announcing her campaign for governor, she has called for a temporary freeze on utility rate increases, an end to corporate cost-shifting onto Wisconsin residents, accountability for data centers, expanded tools for families to lower their own bills, and stronger consumer protections through the PSC. Those are the policies of someone who is looking out for Wisconsinites, not utility companies.

“(Rodriguez) voted for AB 191 because it eliminated the personal property tax for small businesses, a tax that was crushing small manufacturers, family farms, and Main Street businesses across Wisconsin. She believed then, and believes now, that relieving that burden on small businesses was good policy. The provisions she supported were later incorporated into Act 12, which passed with bipartisan support.”

When asked if she was in line with Republicans on this issue she said “Absolutely not.”

“And the contrast could not be clearer,” she added. “Congressman Tom Tiffany has taken tens of thousands of dollars from utility interests over his career in Congress and has done nothing to lower costs for Wisconsin families. Republicans in Madison have blocked efforts to hold utilities accountable and protect Wisconsin ratepayers.

“On day one as governor, Lt. Governor Rodriguez will temporarily freeze utility rate increases to give Wisconsinites immediate breathing room. She will make sure corporations pay their own energy costs instead of sticking Wisconsin residents with the bill. She will invest in cheaper, cleaner energy sources that actually bring monthly bills down over time. And she will appoint PSC commissioners who wake up every morning thinking about how to lower costs for Wisconsinites.”

Bryan Rogers, an environmentalist and director of the Wisconsin Ecojustice Base Builders, said Rodriguez’s prior ties to We Energies are “problematic. But not primarily because of any single donation, vote, or candidate.

“The deeper concern is that many Wisconsinites are increasingly recognizing that the institutions governing their lives have become highly responsive to concentrated economic power. Whether we’re talking about monopoly utilities, campaign finance, lobbying, regulatory capture, or the revolving door between industry and government, the underlying question remains the same: who governs, and in whose interests?

“We see worsening floods, intensifying climate disruption, housing instability, and growing economic precarity. Then we watch the same corporate actors exercise extraordinary influence within our political system. The resulting contradiction is difficult to ignore: the communities bearing the greatest consequences of these decisions often wield the least influence over them, while those positioned to profit from them continue to enjoy privileged access to the institutions ostensibly charged with regulating them.

“People can sense when the story they’re being told no longer matches the reality they’re living.

“The issue here is larger than Lieutenant Governor Rodriguez. Every candidate for governor should be prepared to explain how they will strengthen public accountability, restore confidence in democratic institutions, and ensure that the decisions shaping Wisconsin’s energy future are guided by the needs of communities rather than the demands of private accumulation.”

It just so happens that the Milwaukee Common Council is holding a hearing Wednesday morning to discuss converting We Energies into public ownership. About 1 in 7 Americans rely on a public power utility and Ald. Alex Brower, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, looks to implement that in Milwaukee. 

“How can a candidate for office take We Energies money and claim to hold them accountable?” Brower said in a statement. “As a politician, you cannot stand up for consumers or the environment and take money from the We Energies PAC. We Energies is the worst corporate actor in Milwaukee, and utilities are refusing to convert to non-carbon energy sources or support consumers. With rate increase after rate increase, regular people are being harmed by We Energies. As a DSA-endorsed socialist Alderman, I am asking every single politician and candidate to stand with the people over corporations, return any utility PAC contributions, and support public ownership of public utilities.”

Rodriguez remains viable in the Democratic primary and on June 22 earned the endorsement of opponent Missy Hughes, who suspended her campaign. Some polling and reporting suggest Rodriguez may be surging in the primary. 

As of June 22, the other candidates are Barnes, Francesca Hong, David Crowley, Joel Brennan and Kelda Roys. The primary election is August 11.