Published on 15 Mar 2024 on Zacks via Yahoo Finance

WEC Energy (WEC) Gains From Focus on Clean Energy, Investments

WEC Energy Group’s WEC ongoing investments in infrastructure projects and focus on clean energy should further drive its overall performance. The company continues to expand operations through strategic acquisitions.However, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company faces risks related to increasing competition in the energy space.

Tailwinds

WEC Energy is gaining on the back of improving demand from large and small commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, as well as from the residential space. On average, more than 60% of the company’s electricity is sold to the C&I group. Hence, the improving demand from this group will boost WEC Energy’s performance.Based on improving conditions in the company’s service area, it continues to witness an uptick in customer volumes. WEC expects weather-normalized electric and gas sales for the Wisconsin segment to grow 0.7-1% year over year during 2026-2028. Courtesy of the contribution from organic and inorganic assets, WEC Energy expects compound earnings growth of 6.5-7% through 2028.During 2024-2028, WEC plans to invest $23.7 billion, up $300 million from the previous projection. The idea is to further strengthen the company’s renewable portfolio.WEC Energy is also focused on replacing older generation facilities with zero-carbon-emitting renewable and natural gas-based generation by 2025. WEC has retired 1,900 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired plants since 2018 and aims to remove another 1,500 MW of fossil-fueled generation by 2026.