2009

• PA Consulting Group -- For the sixth time in the past eight years, PA Consulting named We Energies winner of the ReliabilityOne award in the Midwest region for superior reliability of its electric system. The award is based on the company’s performance for the year 2008. The ReliabilityOne award is given annually by PA Consulting Group to the utilities that have excelled in delivering the most reliable electric service to their customers.
  
• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) — We Energies received two EPRI Environment Sector Technology Transfer awards. The first recognized the company’s leadership and active participation in EPRI’s project to develop a digital manual containing ergonomics interventions for electrical workers in fossil-fueled power plants. The second for helping EPRI evaluate technologies for treating mercury from flue gas desulfurization wastewaters.
• Milwaukee Urban League — We Energies received the league's Spirit of Diversity award for distinguishing itself in integrating diversity into the workplace to benefit both the company and the community. The league cited numerous examples of the company's commitment, including its: supplier diversity inititative; advocacy group memberships; civic board participation; diverse board of directors; financial and program support.
• Top 250 Global Energy Company — Platts, a leading provider of energy company information, ranked Wisconsin Energy 182nd in overall global performance and 20th among diversified utilities. In other classifications, WEC ranked 83rd overall in the Americas region and 12th among diversified utilities in the Americas. The Platts Top 250 recognizes outstanding financial performance using four key metrics: asset worth, revenues, profits and return on invested capital. All ranked companies have assets greater than $2 billion.
  
• Interstate Renewable Energy Council — We Energies received one of six Innovation Awards, recognizing the company for its Renewable Energy R&D Grant Program that partnered with Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to advance renewable energy technologies. One project involved an anaerobic digestion system and the other wind blade aerodynamics and various energy storage technologies. These partnerships increased educational opportunities for students and the general public.
  
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Wisconsin Energy's headquarters, the Public Service Building, earned the EPA's prestigious Energy Star, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. The building’s energy performance rates in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide. Energy Star factors include energy usage, building age, occupancy, computers and others in rating buildings in a range from 1 to 100. The PSB rating of was the result of bringing the 1905 building up to current day efficiencies with improved insulation, windows, lighting, and HVAC equipment and controls.
  
• J.D. Power — We Energies received a first-quartile ranking in the Midwest Region and nationally in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. We Energies scored 645 points, which is 3 points higher than last year and 36 points higher than the Midwest average. The study measures customer satisfaction by examining six factors: power quality and reliability; price; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; communications; and customer service. We Energies received a second-quartile ranking in the Midwest Region in the Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. We Energies scored 618 points, which ranked seventh out of 26 companies in the region and 31st out of 75 utilities in the nation.
  
• Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air — We Energies was recognized as the 2009 Commuter Champion for its creative and aggressive promotion of commuting options. More than 400 employees working at the company headquarters in Milwaukee use car pools, public transportation and bicycling. Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air is a coalition of about 300 businesses, community organizations, schools and government agencies committed to improving air quality through voluntary action.
  
• GovernanceMetrics International (GMI) — GMI rated Wisconsin Energy's corporate governance a perfect 10.0 – the highest possible score – for the 18th consecutive time over a period of six years. Only three companies worldwide have consistently rated a 10.0 overall. GMI regularly rates 4,200 companies, including 1,748 in the U.S., incorporating hundreds of data points across six broad categories of analysis: board accountability, financial disclosure and internal controls, shareholder rights, director and executive compensation, takeover provisions and corporate behavior.
  
• University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee — We Energies Customer Operations won UWM's Community Partnership Award, which recognizes organizations for working with the university to benefit student education and advance health science research. Customer Operations earned the award for partnering with occupational therapy graduate students to develop and analyze the Time 2 Stretch program, an employee program that warms up key muscle groups prior to conducting physical tasks. After one year, the number of OSHA cases requiring medical treatment decreased 30 percent.
  
• Racine Art Museum — The Wisconsin Energy Foundation won a Racine Art Museum RAMMY award for corporate philanthropy. The Foundation provided financial support, energy audits and tips on how to lower operating costs by conserving energy. The support included helping pay for installation of motion-sensor lights that help save money and energy while preserving valuable artwork.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) — We Energies' Energy for Tomorrow® renewable energy program was named one of the nation’s Top 10 Utility Green Power Programs by the U.S. Department of Energy’s NREL. We Energies ranked eighth in total sales of renewable energy to program participants for wind, landfill gas and solar usage, and 10th in the total number of customer participants.
  
• Ethisphere Magazine — For the second consecutive year, the magazine named Wisconsin Energy one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Ninety-nine global companies, across 35 business sectors, were selected for inclusion on the 2009 list, which recognizes companies that demonstrate leadership in ethical business practices. Ethisphere scrutinized more than 10,000 companies, reviewing each company’s code of ethics, litigation and regulatory histories, and investment in innovation and sustainable business practices.
  
• GE Infrastructure — The We Energies Site Bulk Material Handling Team received an Ecomagination ROE (return on environment) award from GE Infrastructure, a division of General Electric and GE Energy.The team applied a GE-recommended encapsulate that formed a hard crust over selected portions of the 475,000-ton sub-bituminous coal pile to minimize coal dust at the Oak Creek Power Plant, saving about $68,000 per year. GE presents its Ecomagination ROE award to fewer than 1 percent of its customers. The award recognizes projects that improve operational performance while producing a positive benefit for the environment.
  
• Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) Magazine — Wisconsin Energy ranked 12th in the magazine's 10th annual list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens among U.S.-headquartered companies. CRO evaluates approximately 1,100 publicly held companies in the areas of employee relations, governance, finance, philanthropy, human rights, environmental efforts and lobbying.
  
• Arbor Day Foundation — We Energies was selected for the 11th straight year as a Tree Line USA Utility. The award, sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters, recognizes the company's efforts in providing dependable, reliable service, while using best-practice vegetation management techniques. The award for utilities has three requirements: a program of quality tree care, annual employee training in quality tree-care practices, and tree planting and public education programs.
• Greater Milwaukee Committee — We Energies received the organization's Trailblazer Award for support of inner-city based growth companies. Trailblazing companies have nationally recognized supplier diversity initiatives designed to increase access, procurement opportunities and use of minority-, women-, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses through the purchase of products and services.
  
• J.D. Power — We Energies received first-quartile ranking in the Midwest Region and nationally in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. The survey of the 87 largest electric utilities measured six customer satisfaction factors: power quality and reliability; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; price; communications; and customer service. We Energies ranked first in the nation in percent of businesses that were re-contacted to confirm that their power was restored after an outage and sixth in the nation for customer service representative performance.