Join the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsinfor a deep dive into the evolving energy landscape at our upcoming Consumers Forum on Energy Affordability, designed to bring together business leaders, consumer advocates, and policy makers. Attendees will leave with actionable solutions and practical actions that their organizations can take to help address the energy affordability challenge.
The 2026 energy landscape in Wisconsin is rapidly changing, bringing new challenges that impact every household, small business and community. Cost pressures are mounting for the utility system, even before the arrival of data centers. Now, as utility rates rise and the demand for electricity grows, Wisconsin businesses and citizens are increasingly wondering, “How much more can we pay?”
The Forum will dig into how businesses, community leaders and citizens can advocate for utility affordability. We'll also showcase actions that can be taken to ensure that our investor-owned utilities are accountable to Wisconsin customers — from farmers to Main Street businesses to homeowners and renters. Remedies include better cost control; real, visible long-term planning; and better profit regulation. We will talk about all of these aspects.
Consumer Energy Forum Overview
Who Should Attend?
Business Leaders & C-Suite Executives:Specifically, those in operations, strategy, finance, and sustainability roles, seeking to understand the broader implications of energy trends on their organizations.
Industry Professionals:Directors and managers overseeing building operations, sustainability initiatives, green building projects, the built environment, and energy engineering.
CUB of Wisconsin Members:Both residential and small business consumers
Wisconsin Energy Stakeholders: Individuals and consumer advocates working across the energy and utility sectors.
Wisconsin Policy Makers: Elected officials and legislative staffers focused on utility and energy policy.
CUB's Consumers Forum on Energy Affordability is being held in conjunction with the Sustainable Business Council as part of their Community Impact Day.
What Will Be Covered?
Fact vs. Fiction: We will clear up common misconceptions about utilities and energy efficiency. You will understand better how utilities make money and get a better sense of which energy efficiency steps you can take to cut your energy use and save on energy costs.
Understanding Cost Drivers:We will break down exactly how inflation, shifting fuel costs, and the rapid expansion of massive industrial infrastructure projects—such as new data centers—are influencing the rates on your monthly bill.
Energy 101 & The Regulatory Process:We will demystify how electricity regulation works in Wisconsin and how utility prices are actually determined. We will provide a clear overview of how utility rate cases work and how those decisions directly affect affordability for both residential and business customers.
Consumer Advocacy: You will learn how to effectively voice your concerns and why your input is a critical check-and-balance in the energy decision-making process. We’ll discuss the opportunities currently available for policy makers and stakeholders to ensure a fair and reliable system.
Roundtable Convening: CUB leaders will be hosting roundtable discussions with all attendees, where we will listen to your questions and concerns, and hear your insights.
Event Program Overview:
11:00- 11:30: Registration & Networking
11:30 - 1:00: Luncheon Buffet & Interactive Speakers Program
Dr. Steve Kihm - Regulatory Strategist, Economics & Finance at the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
Steve comes to CUB with four decades of experience in analyzing economic and finance issues in utility regulation, including 21 years as a member of the staff of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. He also held positions at a for-profit consulting firm and a non-profit research organization. Steve has testified as an expert witness across the country and has published articles in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance and the Energy Law Journal. He holds two masters’ degrees in business (quantitative analysis and finance) from UW-Madison and a doctoral degree in business (corporate finance and strategy) from UW-Whitewater. For his graduate work at UW-Madison he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honorary business society and named the Outstanding Graduate Business Student by the business school faculty.
Tom Content - Executive Director at the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
Tom joined the Citizens Utility Board in 2017 after working for more than 30 years as a journalist. He became interested in energy and what it costs households while sitting in the back seat, waiting for what seemed like forever, during the gas lines of the ‘70s. After graduating from Boston University’s College of Communication Tom worked at newspapers in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania before moving to Wisconsin. He reported on utilities and worked as business editor at the Green Bay-Press Gazette in the 1990s and then moved to Milwaukee, where he covered energy, utilities and sustainable business for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His reporting on energy and climate change won the National Press Club’s Stokes Award for Energy Writing in 2007. Tom and his family live in Glendale.
Brady Steigauf - Community Liaison Manager at Focus on Energy
Brady Steigauf works as the Community Liaison Manager at Focus on Energy. In this role, he manages Focus on Energy's growing stakeholder outreach work to bring energy-saving ideas and incentives to residential and business communities by meeting them where they are. Brady has 10 years of experience working in the energy efficiency, local government sustainability, and utility space.
More speaker information coming soon!
Hotel Information - Best Western Premier Park Hotel – Downtown
Stay downtown in the only hotel on Madison's Capitol Square. Especially convient if you are coming into town on Monday night for our Forum on Tuesday.
Hotel Address: 22 S Carroll Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 United States
$169 to $259 per night - Book by 10/17/26 for these discounted rates
The hotel also offers EV charging for an additional $12 fee, which can be requested when booking your room.
The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) offers free, nonpartisan educational programming designed to help utility customers understand their energy bills, lower costs, and navigate energy efficient and clean energy options for their homes and businesses.
