Clean Energy Drives 2018 Investments

MGE Energy projects an estimated $254 million in capital expenditures in 2018.

This estimate includes $23 million for the recent purchase of a share of the Forward Energy Center wind farm in Wisconsin. The company purchased 16 megawatts (MW) of the 130-MW wind farm, which is now jointly owned by MGE, Alliant Energy and Wisconsin Public Service Corp.

Madison Gas and Electric's (MGE) new, 66-MW Saratoga wind farm in northeast Iowa is under construction and expected online by early 2019 at a cost of about $108 million. The highly efficient wind farm will deliver cost-effective clean energy to about 47,000 households.

These two wind energy investments grow MGE-owned wind resources by more than 200% and advance our defined clean energy goals under Energy 2030, which targets greater use of renewable resources and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Utility of the future

In early 2018, a major enterprise-wide project known as Enterprise Forward kicked off. The five-year, multimillion dollar initiative lays the foundation for MGE becoming a utility of the future. The company-wide project is transforming internal processes and capabilities, enabling MGE to offer more customized programs, products and services to meet customers' needs and expectations into the future.

A modernization of the company's business processes and consolidation of legacy systems will help MGE take advantage of efficiencies to reduce operational costs and offer flexibility. These improvements will allow MGE to adjust more rapidly to a changing energy marketplace driven by new technologies and evolving customer expectations.

We also continue to invest in our electric infrastructure, which is undergoing more than $130 million in upgrades over three years to help maintain MGE's leading reliability. These investments reflect our ongoing commitment to reliability, sustainability and customer and shareholder value.