We Energies Starts Building 125 MW of Batteries, 150 MW of Solar and 110 MW of Wind in Wisconsin
- Energy Storage News Utility-Scale BESS
Marin Holt
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- 7 minutes read
- Battery storage in construction: 125 MW
- Darien Battery Storage: 75 MW
- Badger Hollow Wind: 110 MW
- Jobs supported: 450
We Energies has started construction on three Wisconsin projects. Together they add 125 MW of battery storage, 150 MW of solar and 110 MW of wind. The Milwaukee utility announced the groundbreakings on August 4, 2026. Crews started work on the Dawn Harvest Solar and Battery Park in Rock County in June. The Darien Battery Storage site in Walworth County followed in July. So did the Badger Hollow Wind Energy Center in Iowa and Grant counties. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved all three before construction started. We Energies puts the combined output at roughly 100,000 homes. It says the builds support more than 450 jobs.
What Is Under Construction
Darien Battery Storage is a 75 MW facility in Walworth County. It sits inside the Darien Solar and Battery Park, where a 250 MW solar project reached commercial operation in 2025. The battery therefore lands next to generation that already exists, not next to a project still waiting on a meter.
Dawn Harvest in Rock County pairs a 150 MW solar project with 50 MW of battery storage. Badger Hollow Wind Energy Center adds 110 MW of wind across Iowa and Grant counties. Invenergy developed all three and is building them. We Energies holds the majority stake, with Wisconsin Public Service and Madison Gas and Electric as co-owners.
We Energies reports more than 3,000 MW of solar and wind and 600 MW of battery storage that is in service, under construction or filed for approval. The three projects announced this month are a slice of that pipeline, not the whole of it.
Why It Matters
The storage number is the one to watch. The 125 MW now in construction is a fifth of the 600 MW of battery storage We Energies claims across its pipeline. That pipeline still counts projects waiting on regulators. Both batteries also sit with solar rather than standing alone. That pairing points at evening ramp coverage. It also points at capacity accreditation inside MISO, where solar alone earns less credit as penetration rises.
Read the announcement for what it is. A groundbreaking is a construction start. We Energies gave no in-service date for any of the three, and it published no capital cost. Buyers tracking Wisconsin capacity should treat these as 2027 and later resources. For the cost figures, watch the Public Service Commission dockets instead of the press release.
Critical Perspective
We Energies is putting 125 MW of batteries into construction while California’s fleet already clears 21,112 MW, which sets the scale of the Wisconsin build. The utility owns the assets and Invenergy only builds them, so the batteries enter rate base and earn a regulated return whether or not they ever capture a price spread. We Energies disclosed no capital cost for any of the three projects, and the 100,000-homes figure blends solar, wind and storage output that arrives at very different hours. If these batteries are sized for peak reliability rather than energy arbitrage, what capacity value did the Public Service Commission actually credit them with?
Sources
- We Energies: We Energies launches construction on solar, wind and battery storage projects
- Wisconsin Public Service: WPS begins construction on new solar, wind and battery storage projects
- Solar Power World: We Energies breaks ground on three major energy projects in Wisconsin
- PV Tech: We Energies breaks ground on three new Wisconsin renewables projects
