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Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Business Information, Profile, and History

700 North Adams Street
P.O. Box 19001
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54307-9001
U.S.A.

History of Wisconsin Public Service Corporation

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation is one of the larger public utilities in the Midwest. It supplies electricity and natural gas to customers in northeastern Wisconsin and part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company's largest urban markets are the cities of Green Bay, Oshkosh, Wausau, and Stevens Point.

Wisconsin Public Service traces its origins to Oshkosh Gas Light Company, the successor company to a franchise that had been taken out in 1868 to sell coal gas, which was used for lighting, to the citizens of Oshkosh. The franchise had lain dormant for about five years when E. P. Sawyer, a businessman whose previous experience had been in the lumber industry, acquired it in 1883 and reincorporated it under the name Oshkosh Gas Light. In 1885 the company received a franchise to sell electricity in Oshkosh, putting it into direct competition with Oshkosh Electric Light and Power. The two companies merged in 1907.

In these early years, the electrical utility industry in the United States little resembled its current state, in which a relatively small number of large companies are granted state-regulated franchises to produce and sell power in large geographic areas. Instead, a bewildering array of strictly local companies took out franchises to provide electricity and coal gas to small areas on a small scale. But, as the merger between Oshkosh Gas Light and Oshkosh Electric Power suggests, this began to change after the turn of the century, when the industry underwent a period of rapid consolidation and centralization of power.

In 1911 a Milwaukee engineer named Clement Smith joined with his brother-in-law, utility lawyer George Miller, to found Wisconsin Securities Company with the purpose of operating it as a utilities holding company. They quickly acquired Green Bay Gas and Electric Company, Green Bay Traction Company, and Northern Hydro-Electric Power Company. In 1922 Wisconsin Securities acquired Oshkosh Gas Light from the estate of E. P. Sawyer, changed its name to Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, and merged it with the other companies that it had acquired, which by now included Sheboygan Gas Light Company, Calumet Service Company, and Manitowoc and Northern Traction Company. Wisconsin Securities had also founded Peninsula Service Company to supply electricity to Door County in 1920, and it, too, was merged into Wisconsin Public Service.

This rapid consolidation among electrical utilities did not escape notice and drew fire from some reform-minded journalists. New Republic, for instance, published two books during the 1920s critical of current trends in the industry, one of which mentioned Wisconsin Public Service as a brief example. However, the desire to gain monopolistic control of regional markets for electrical power was not the sole factor at work, perhaps not even the most important one. The attrition rate for the small power companies that characterized the early days of the industry was quite high. Nor were those small companies likely to have the capital to invest in new power plants. In the case of Wisconsin Securities, the owners of Green Bay Gas and Electric, Green Bay Traction, and Northern Hydro-Electric Power asked Clement Smith and George Miller for help after cost overruns from a hydro-electric plant they were building threatened to bankrupt them. Thus, a certain amount of consolidation was not only inevitable, but healthy for the industry and necessary for maintaining consistency of service.

More mergers and acquisitions followed the creation of Wisconsin Public Service. In 1924 the company bought small electric companies operating in the towns of Brillion, Mishicot, and DePere. The next year it acquired all the assets of Northeastern Power Company, including its subsidiaries Riverview Motor Bus Company; Oslo Power and Light Company; Denmark Power and Light Company; Green Bay Park Railway Company; Northern Light, Heat, and Power Company of Suring; and Wabeno Lighting Company.

As some of the names of the acquired Northeastern Power subsidiaries suggest, Wisconsin Public Service operated public transportation at this time, in addition to supplying electricity. Electric companies had long been in this line of business, a natural consequence of the fact that they produced the electricity that made trolley cars run. After World War I, street railways were widely replaced by buses, which were more flexible and less expensive to operate. From the 1920s through World War II, Wisconsin Public Service operated transportation systems in Green Bay, Wausau, Merrill, and, briefly, in Menominee and Marinette.

Just after the Northeastern Power acquisition, Wisconsin Public Service was itself acquired by H. M. Byellsby, an electrical engineer who had worked for the Edison and Westinghouse Electric Corporation before going into business himself, designing and building power stations and hydro-electric plants for utility companies. Byellsby immediately turned over control of Wisconsin Public Service to Standard Gas and Electric, a public utility holding company that he had founded in 1910. As a result of the move, Clement Smith stepped down as president in 1926.

In 1927 Standard Gas and Electric acquired another large electrical utility, Wisconsin Valley Electric Company. Like Wisconsin Public Service, Wisconsin Valley Electric had grown rapidly through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and was selling electricity to the towns of Merrill, Stevens Point, Tomahawk, Antigo, Rhinelander, and Waupaca when Standard Gas and Electric won a bidding war to acquire it. Though a successful and growing company, Wisconsin Valley Electric operated hydro-electric plants exclusively and ran into trouble in winter because of ice and low water on the Wisconsin River. In 1933 Standard Gas and Electric decided to merge its two main subsidiaries, so that Wisconsin Public Service's steam turbine plants could pick up Wisconsin Valley Electric's wintertime slack.

During World War II, Wisconsin Public Service's public transportation systems saw increases in ridership due to gas rationing and reduced automobile production. However, wartime shortages also made running bus lines difficult, despite the increases in business. For instance, the company's fleet in Green Bay was forced to bring an old 1925 Reo bus out of mothballs and press it into service. It was christened the Queen Marie, and a slogan painted on her side declared that she would be retired again, "when the clock strikes peace!" After the clock did, in fact, strike peace, bus ridership declined as gasoline rationing ended and private cars returned to the roads. In 1951 Wisconsin Public Service divested its bus lines in Wausau and Merrill, and they began independent operation under the name Wausau Transit Lines.

Wisconsin Public Service also gained independence of a sort in the 1950s; in 1952 Standard Gas and Electric divested its entire stake in the company. Common stock was distributed to Wisconsin Public Service's preferred stockholders. The following year, Wisconsin Public Service was listed on the Midwest and New York Stock Exchanges for the first time.

In the 1960s natural gas became an increasingly important fuel source, and Wisconsin Public Service responded by expanding its operations in that area. The company had been selling natural gas to its customers since 1950, just after the first pipeline from the Hugoton Field in the Oil Patch of Oklahoma and Texas to the Upper Midwest was built. In 1961 it made a move to control the means of distribution when it acquired two natural gas franchises, Merrill Gas Company and Oneida Gas Company. By 1963 over half of the homes in Wisconsin Public Service's service area were heated with gas, and by the mid-1970s natural gas sales would account for about 30 percent of the company's operating revenues.

In 1967 Wisconsin Public Service acquired the electrical distribution system for the municipality of Kewaunee, which had been owned by the city. That year, the company also took its first plunge into the age of nuclear energy when it broke ground on a nuclear plant nine miles south of Kewaunee, on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Kewaunee nuclear plant, which did not begin operation until 1974 (once safety and environmental concerns had been assuaged), was built and operated by Wisconsin Public Service, but was, in fact a joint venture between three Wisconsin utility companies. Wisconsin Public Service owned 41.2 percent, with Wisconsin Power and Light Company holding 41 percent and Madison Gas and Electric Company 17.8 percent.

In 1970 the company consolidated its corporate offices. True to its roots as an amalgamation of many small, local companies, Wisconsin Public Services had long operated out of offices scattered among the cities of Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Oshkosh. For decades, Wisconsin Public Service had used a stately old mansion in Milwaukee as one of its headquarters--which made little sense, since the city lay outside the company's operating area, except that Clement Smith had acquired the house from his brother-in-law. In 1970, the old Milwaukee mansion was vacated, and operations were consolidated at a new corporate headquarters in Green Bay.

In 1973 Wisconsin Public Service left the public transportation business entirely. Its Green Bay lines had been losing money since the 1950s, and the company finally sold its operations to the city of Green Bay that year. Its Green Bay bus system notwithstanding, Wisconsin Public Service prospered during the 1970s. In 1975 it posted revenues of $219.9 million, its best sales year ever. Its most important customer was the paper industry, which accounted for 15 percent of the company's electricity sales, and renewed strength among paper companies operating mills in northeastern Wisconsin meant increased demand for Wisconsin Public Service's main product. The company's reliance on the paper industry continued to serve it well into the 1980s, giving it a solid base of industrial demand.

In 1992 Wisconsin Public Service's contacts with the paper industry resulted in a joint venture seeking to find an efficient, ecologically sound way to generate electricity. That year, the company signed an agreement with Rhinelander Paper Company to build a 90 to 100 megawatt power plant that would be fueled by low-sulfur coal and paper mill waste. Wisconsin Public Service began using more low-sulfur coal in its power plants in the 1990s in order to comply with state and federal air pollution laws.

Wisconsin Public Service has performed well financially, especially in recent years; its revenues tripled between 1975 and 1992. This record of growth is impressive, considering that the relatively modest city of Green Bay is its largest urban market. It has benefited from the presence of large industrial customers in its area of operations, and it has shown that an electrical utility can prosper and grow large by hanging around small towns.

Principal Subsidiaries: WPS Communications, Inc.

Related information about Wisconsin

pop (2000e) 5 363 700; area 145 431 km²/56 153 sq mi. State in NC USA, divided into 72 counties; the ‘Badger State’; first settled by French traders, 1670; surrendered to the British, 1763; ceded to the USA, 1783 (part of the Northwest Territory); Territory of Wisconsin formed, 1836; 30th state to join the Union, 1848; bounded N by L Superior and L Michigan, E by L Michigan; capital, Madison; other chief cities, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Racine; rivers include the Mississippi (part of the W border), Menominee (part of the E border), and Wisconsin; L Winnebago lies to the E; c.26 000 km²/10 000 sq mi of L Michigan lie within the state boundary; highest point, Timms Hill (595 m/1952 ft); glaciated terrain in the N and W, largely forested; over 8500 lakes; timber products, dairy products, paper, metal products, machinery, food processing, electrical equipment, transport equipment, grain, vegetables, brewing; produces more milk, butter, and cheese than any other state; over a third of the nation's cheese production; heavy industry in the Milwaukee area.

Wisconsin (IPA pronunciation: ) is a state in the United States, located in the Midwest. Its capital is Madison; the governor is Jim Doyle.

The Wisconsin area, bordered by the current-day states of Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, as well as Lakes Michigan and Superior, has been part of United States territory since the end of the American Revolution; the Wisconsin Territory (which included parts of other current states) was formed on July 3, 1836. Wisconsin ratified its constitution March 13, 1848 and was admitted to the Union on May 29, 1848 as the thirtieth state.

Wisconsin's rural economy was originally based on furs; in the 19th century, emphasis shifted to mining, lumber, farming, dairy, and tourism. Large-scale industrialization began in the late 19th century in the southeast of the state, with the city of Milwaukee as its major center. Wisconsin's landscape, largely shaped by the Wisconsin glaciation of the last Ice Age, makes the state popular for both tourism and many forms of outdoor recreation.

Since its founding, Wisconsin has been ethnically heterogeneous, with New Englanders being among the first to arrive; Large numbers of European immigrants followed them, including Germans, mostly between 1850 and 1900, Scandinavians and smaller groups of Belgians, Swiss, Finns, Irish Catholics and others; in the twentieth century, large numbers of Polish and African-Americans arrived in the state.

Today, 42.6% of the population is of German ancestry, making Wisconsin one of the most German-American states in the United States, although there are many other major ethnic groups, including one of the larger Hmong populations in the nation.

During the period of the Civil War, Wisconsin was a Republican and pro-Union stronghold. class=ilnk>Robert La Follette and his sons, originally of the Republican Party, but later of their own Progressive Party. Major Republican figures include former Governor Tommy Thompson, while major Democrats include governor Jim Doyle and Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold.Conant ch 1; Pearce

History

In 1634, Frenchman Jean Nicolet became Wisconsin's first European explorer, landing at Red Banks, near modern-day Green Bay in search of a passage to the Orient. The French controlled the area until it was ceded to the British in 1763.

After the American Revolutionary War, Wisconsin was part of the U.S. Northwest Territory. It was then governed as part of Indiana Territory, Illinois Territory, and Michigan Territory. Settlement began when the first two public land offices opened in 1834.Public land offices, and settlement. Wisconsin Territory was organized on July 3, 1836, and it became the 30th state on May 29 1848.

The state mineral is Galena, otherwise known as lead sulfide, which reflects Wisconsin's early mining history. Many town names such as Mineral Point recall a period in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s, when Wisconsin was an important mining state. many of them immigrants from Cornwall, England ? Most Germans were Catholic or Lutheran, with some Lutherans forming the Wisconsin Synod and others joining the Missouri Synod. When nativist Republicans led by governor William Hoard passed the Bennett Law in 1889 that would shut down German language schools, both Catholic and Lutheran, they revolted and helped elect the Democrats in 1890. Lake Superior and Michigan to the north; and by Iowa and Minnesota to the west. Part of the state's boundaries includes the Mississippi River and St. Croix River in the west, and the Menominee River in the northeast.
With its location between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Wisconsin is home to a wide variety of geographical features. Just to the south, the Northern Highland includes the state's highest point, Timms Hill, as well as massive forests and thousands of small glacial lakes. In the middle of the state, the Central Plain possesses some unique sandstone formations like the Dells of the Wisconsin River in addition to rich farmland. in fact Wisconsin contains 11,188 square miles (28,977 km²) of water, more than all but three other states (Alaska, Michigan & Florida). The distinctive Door Peninsula, which extends off of the eastern coast of the state, contains one of the state's most beautiful tourist destinations, Door County. The area draws thousands of visitors yearly to its quaint villages, seasonal cherry picking, and ever-popular fish boils.

Areas under the management of the National Park Service include:

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore along Lake Superior
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
North Country National Scenic Trail
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

Demographics

The state has always been ethnically heterogeneous. Large numbers of Germans arrived between 1850 and 1900, centering in Milwaukee, but also settling in many small cities and farm areas in the southeast. Small colonies of Belgians, Swiss, Finns and other groups came to the state. After 1900, Polish immigrants came to Milwaukee, followed by African Americans from 1940 on. The top 5 states with a net increase of migration into Wisconsin are 1) Illinois, 2) California, 3) Indiana 4) New York and 5) Pennsylvania.

As of 2004, there are 229,800 foreign-born residents in the state (4.2% of the state population), and an estimated 41,000 undocumented workers living in the state, accounting for 18% of the foreign-born population.fact

The five largest ancestry groups in Wisconsin are: German (42.6%), Irish (10.9%), Polish (9.3%), Norwegian (8.5%), English (6.5%)

Wisconsin is widely regarded as the most "German-American" state in the Union (although North Dakota, with 43.9% German ancestry, can also make this claim). Menominee county is the only county in the eastern United States with an American Indian majority.

86% of Wisconsin's black population lives in one of five cities: Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, Kenosha and Beloit while Milwaukee itself is home to nearly three-fourths of the state's blacks. In the Great Lakes region, only Detroit and Cleveland have a higher percentage of blacks.

33% of Wisconsin's Asian population is Hmong, with significant communities in Milwaukee, Wausau, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Appleton, La Crosse, Stevens Point, Madison, and Eau Claire.

6.4% of Wisconsin's population was reported as under 5, 25.5% under 18, and 13.1% were 65 or older.

Religion

The largest denominations are Roman Catholic, Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod and ELCA Lutherans. The per capita personal income was $32,157 in 2004.

The economy of Wisconsin is driven by agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing. Wisconsin produces more dairy products than any other state in the United States except California, and it leads the nation in cheese production. In addition to dairying, Wisconsin ranks first in the production of corn for silage, cranberries, ginseng, and snap beans for processing. Wisconsin is also a leading producer of oats, potatoes, carrots, tart cherries, maple syrup, and sweet corn for processing.

Badger State
State Animal:	Badger
State Domesticated Animal:	Dairy Cow
State Wild Animal:	White-tailed Deer
State Beverage:	Milk
State Bird:	Robin
State Capital:	Madison
State Dog:	Spaniel
State Fish:	Muskellunge
State Flower:	Wood Violet
State Fossil:	Trilobite
State Grain:	Corn
State Insect:	Honeybee
State Motto:	Forward
State Song:	"On, Wisconsin!"
State Tree:	Sugar Maple
State Mineral:	Galena (Lead sulfide)
State Rock:	Red Granite
State Soil:	Antigo Silt Loam
State Dance:	Polka
State Symbol of Peace:	Mourning Dove

Given Wisconsin's strong agricultural tradition, it is not surprising that a large part of the state's manufacturing sector deals with food processing. Some well known food brands produced in Wisconsin include Oscar Mayer, Tombstone and Jack's frozen pizza, and Johnsonville Bratwursts. Milwaukee is a major producer of beer and the home of Miller Brewing Company's world headquarters, the nation's second largest brewer.

In addition to food processing, Wisconsin is home to several transportation equipment and machinery manufacturers. Major Wisconsin companies in these categories include the Kohler Company, Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, Briggs & Stratton, Miller Electric, Milwaukee Electric Tool Company, Oshkosh Truck, and Harley-Davidson. the lower Fox River from Lake Winnebago to the Bay of Green Bay has twenty-four paper mills along its 39-mile (63 km) stretch. The largest paper companies with operations in Wisconsin are Kimberly-Clark and Georgia-Pacific, both of which rank among the state's top ten employers.

Healthcare is a growing sector of the economy with key players such as Tomotherapy and GE Healthcare. Tourism destinations such as the House on the Rock near Spring Green, Circus World Museum in Baraboo, and the collection of attractions around Wisconsin Dells each draw thousands of visitors every year, and festivals such as Summerfest and the EAA Oshkosh Airshow always attract large crowds.

Wisconsin collects personal income tax based on 4 income level brackets, which range from 4.6 percent to 6.75 percent. Sales of motor vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, mobile homes 45 feet (13.7 m) or less in length, trailers, semi-trailers, all-terrain vehicles, and aircraft are subject to the county use tax rather than county sales tax.

The most common property tax assessed on Wisconsin residents is the real property tax, or their residential property tax.

Law and government

The capital is Madison and the largest city is Milwaukee.
The governor of Wisconsin is Jim Doyle.

See also:

Wisconsin Constitution
Governors of Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Legislature
- Wisconsin State Senate
- Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin Supreme Court
U.S. Congressional Delegations from Wisconsin
- List of U.S. Senators from Wisconsin

Politics

Much of the state's political history involved coalitions among different ethnic groups. This was fought out in the Bennett Law campaign of 1890, when the Germans switched to the Democratic Party, who won a major victory.
Wisconsin's political history encompasses, on the one hand, Joe McCarthy, the controversial anti-Communist censured by the Senate during the 1950s. The first Socialist mayor of a large city in the United States was Emil Seidel, elected mayor of Milwaukee in 1910; another Socialist, Daniel Hoan, was mayor of Milwaukee from 1916 to 1940.

Wisconsin has a strong progressive tradition dating to the governorship of Russ Feingold was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001, and Democrat Tammy Baldwin from Madison is the only openly lesbian U.S. Representative. Republican have strongholds in suburban areas, while Democrats dominate some rural areas and inner cities of the Madison and Milwaukee metropolitan urban centers.

Important cities and villages

Cities and villages are incorporated urban areas in Wisconsin. Towns are unincorporated minor civil divisions of counties.

Wisconsin's self-promotion as "America's Dairyland" sometimes leads to a mistaken impression that it is an exclusively rural state. Milwaukee is slightly larger than Boston and part of a largely developed string of cities that stretches down the western edge of Lake Michigan into greater Chicago and also into northwestern Indiana. Medium-size cities dot the state and anchor a network of working farms surrounding them.

Cities in Wisconsin with population of 50,000 or more as of 2000 include:

Milwaukee, population 596,125 (1,709,926 in metropolitan area), largest city
Madison, population 208,054 (588,885 in metropolitan area), state capital
Green Bay, population 102,767 (295,473 in metropolitan area)
Kenosha, population 90,352, part of Chicagoland
Racine, population 81,855, part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Appleton, population 70,087 (213,102 in metropolitan area)
Waukesha, population 64,825 part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Oshkosh, population 62,916 (159,008 in metropolitan area)
Eau Claire, population 61,704 (148,337 in metropolitan area)
West Allis, population 61,254, part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Janesville, population 60,200 (154,794 in metropolitan area)
La Crosse, population 51,818 (128,592 in metropolitan area)
Sheboygan, population 50,792 (113,376 in metropolitan area)

Education

Colleges and universities

Public education in Wisconsin includes both the 26-campus University of Wisconsin System, headquartered in Madison, and the 16-campus Wisconsin Technical College System which coordinates with the University of Wisconsin. Notable private colleges and universities include Marquette University, Beloit College,and Lawrence University, among others. The Green Bay Packers have been part of the National Football League since the league's second season in 1921 and currently hold the record for the most NFL titles, earning the city of Green Bay the nickname "Titletown".

Club	Sport	League
Green Bay Packers	Football	National Football League
Milwaukee Brewers	Baseball	Major League Baseball
Milwaukee Bucks	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Milwaukee Admirals	Ice hockey	American Hockey League
Milwaukee Wave	Soccer	Major Indoor Soccer League
Green Bay Blizzard	Arena football	af2
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers	Baseball	Midwest League
Beloit Snappers	Baseball	Midwest League
Eau Claire Express	Baseball	Northwoods League
La Crosse Loggers	Baseball	Northwoods League
Madison Mallards	Baseball	Northwoods League
Wisconsin Woodchucks	Baseball	Northwoods League

Miscellaneous topics

USS Wisconsin was named in honor of this state.

Known as "America's Dairyland," Wisconsin is also known for cheese. A lesser known, but still significant nickname for Wisconsin is "The Copper State," referring to the copper mines in the northwestern part of the state.

The state is home to the Green Bay Packers, the most successful small-market professional sports franchise in the world. The University of Wisconsin Badgers football program, playing at Camp Randall Stadium, enjoys similar loyalty; The waiting list for Packers season tickets has over 50,000 names.
The Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee is known for its unique architecture. Madison is home to the Vilas Zoo which is free for all visitors, and the Olbrich Gardens conservatory, as well as the hub of cultural activity at the University of Wisconsin. It is also known for Monona Terrace, a convention center that was designed by Taliesin Architect Anthony Puttnam, based loosely on a 1930s design by Frank Lloyd Wright, a world-renowned architect and Wisconsin native who was born in Richland Center. Decades after Wright's death, Taliesin remains an architectural office and school for his followers.

Wisconsin has sister-state relationships with the Germany's Hesse, Japan's Chiba Prefecture, Mexico's Jalisco, China's Heilongjiang, and Nicaragua.Sister States

Name

Although the exact etymology of the name is uncertain, "Wisconsin" is thought to be an English version of a French adaptation of an Indian word. It may come from the Ojibwe word Miskwasiniing, meaning "Red-stone place," which was probably the name given to the Wisconsin River, and was recorded as Ouisconsin by the French and changed to its current form by the English.

References

Michael Barone and Richard E.

Additional topics

Company HistoryElectricity & Utilities

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