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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

The 2025 total compensation of WEC Energy Group CEO Scott Lauber was $12 million.

That’s down from the $18 million paid in 2020 to WEC’s then-CEO, Kevin Fletcher.

WEC, the largest Wisconsin-based utility company, is the parent company of We Energies and other electric and gas utilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, one Democrat running for governor, said utility “CEO pay” had increased from $4 million to $12 million. His campaign said Barnes was referring to Lauber.

Lauber’s total compensation was $4 million in 2020. But he was senior executive vice president, not CEO.

Nationally, the average total compensation for utility CEOs in 2025 was $12 million, up 47% since 2017. The top earner was the CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power, at $36 million. That $12 million, as a median, was the lowest among all industry sectors.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Energy Policy Institute: Utility Executive Compensation
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: CEO Pay Study
AFL-CIO: Executive Pay Watch
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2021 proxy statement
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2026 proxy statement
WEC Energy Group: About us

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Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
May 19, 2026

<h1>Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />May 19, 2026</p>

<div class="wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:26% auto">
<figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Wisconsin_Watch_fact_brief-782x409.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1278996 size-full" /></figure>
<div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
</p></div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">No.</h2>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://gigafact-app-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/factBriefImage.jpeg" alt="" style="width:150px" /></figure>
</p></div>
<p>The 2025 total compensation of WEC Energy Group CEO Scott Lauber was <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/783325/000078332526000035/wec-20260324.htm">$12 million</a>.</p>
<p>That’s down from the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/783325/000010781521000114/wec-2021proxystatement.htm">$18 million</a> paid in 2020 to WEC’s then-CEO, Kevin Fletcher.</p>
<p>WEC, the largest Wisconsin-based utility company, is the parent <a href="https://www.wecenergygroup.com/about/aboutus.htm">company</a> of We Energies and other electric and gas utilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.</p>
<p>Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, one Democrat running for governor, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5r6klNebac&amp;t=92s">said</a> utility "CEO pay" had increased from $4 million to $12 million. His campaign <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:7315a403-bdef-436d-b119-c11ddeeb1dcf">said</a> Barnes was referring to Lauber.</p>
<p>Lauber’s total compensation was $4 million in 2020. But he was senior executive vice president, not CEO.</p>
<p>Nationally, the average total compensation for utility CEOs in 2025 was <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:074cddd0-b5e4-4330-9025-1294dc1bfda7?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover">$12 million</a>, up 47% since 2017. The top earner was the CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power, at $36 million. That <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2025/06/08/ceo-pay-study/">$12 million</a>, as a median, was the lowest among all industry sectors.</p>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sources</h2>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://gigafact.org/fact-brief-quiz/wisconsinwatch"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/take_fact_brief_quiz.ea0075f4-1-782x440.jpg" alt="Think you know the facts? Put your knowledge to the test. Take the Fact Brief quiz" class="wp-image-1300309" /></a></figure></p>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/05/wisconsin-utility-company-ceo-compensation-pay-wec-energy-lauber-barnes/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million?

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