MILWAUKEE, June 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC) today announced an agreement to acquire an 80 percent ownership interest in the Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center located in Henry County, Illinois.

Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center was developed by Invenergy and placed into service in May 2018. The project has a 22-year offtake agreement with WPPI Energy for 100 percent of the energy produced. WPPI Energy, based in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is a not-for-profit company that provides electric power to 51 member utilities in Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa.

The Bishop Hill III site consists of 53 General Electric turbines with a capacity of 132 megawatts. WEC Energy Group’s investment will total $148 million.

“This investment is a logical extension of our core business,” said Gale Klappa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WEC Energy Group. “WPPI has been a significant wholesale customer of ours for years, and we’re pleased to extend that relationship with a new, efficient renewable facility that exists within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) footprint,” he added.

Under the new tax rules, the WEC Energy Group investment is expected to be eligible for 100 percent bonus depreciation and for production tax credits. The transaction is subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation’s premier energy companies, serving 4.5 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

The company’s principal utilities are We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources and Upper Michigan Energy Resources. The company’s other major subsidiary, We Power, designs, builds and owns electric generating plants.

WEC Energy Group (wecenergygroup.com), is a Fortune 500 company and a component of the S&P 500. The company has approximately 50,000 stockholders of record, 8,000 employees, and more than $31 billion of assets.

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SOURCE WEC Energy Group