WEC ENERGY GROUP INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 22, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 22, 2024
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A. Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
A. REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of WEC Energy Group, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of WEC Energy Group, Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes and the schedules listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 22, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Regulatory Assets and Liabilities - Impact of rate regulation on financial statements — Refer to Notes 6 and 26 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company’s regulated utilities are subject to regulation by various state and federal regulatory bodies (collectively the “Commissions”) which have jurisdiction with respect to the rates of electric and gas distribution companies in each respective state. Management has determined the Company meets the requirements under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America to prepare its financial statements applying the Regulated Operations Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standard Codification.
Rates are determined and approved in regulatory proceedings based on an analysis of the Company’s costs to provide utility service and a return on, and recovery of, the Company’s investment in the utility business. Current and future regulatory decisions can have an impact on the recovery of costs, the rate of return earned on investment, and the timing and amount of assets to be recovered through rates. The Commissions’ regulation of rates is premised on the full recovery of prudently incurred costs and a reasonable rate of return on invested capital. Certain items that would otherwise be immediately recognized as revenues and expenses are deferred as regulatory assets and regulatory liabilities for future recovery or refund to customers, as authorized by the Company’s regulators. While the Company has indicated it expects to recover costs from customers through regulated rates, there is a risk that the Commissions will not approve: (1) full recovery of the costs of providing utility service, (2) full recovery of all amounts invested in the utility business and a reasonable return on that investment or (3) timely recovery of costs incurred.
We identified the impact of rate regulation as a critical audit matter due to the significant judgments made by management to support its assertions about impacted account balances and disclosures and the subjectivity involved in assessing the impact of future regulatory orders on the financial statements. Management judgments include assessing the likelihood of (1) recovery in future rates of incurred costs and/or (2) a refund to customers. Auditing these judgments required specialized knowledge of accounting for rate regulation and the rate setting process due to its inherent complexities.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the impact of rate regulation on certain assets and liabilities included the following, among others:
We tested the effectiveness of management’s controls over regulatory assets and liabilities, including management’s controls over the identification of costs recorded as regulatory assets and liabilities and the monitoring and evaluation of regulatory developments that may affect the likelihood of recovering costs in future rates.
We inquired of Company management and independently obtained and read: (1) relevant regulatory orders issued by the Commissions for the Company, (2) Company filings with the Commissions, (3) filings made by intervenors and (4) other publicly available information to assess the likelihood of recovery in future rates or of a future reduction in rates based on precedents of the Commissions’ treatment of similar costs under similar circumstances. To assess completeness, we evaluated the information obtained and compared it to management’s recorded regulatory asset and liability balances.
For regulatory matters in process, we inspected the Company’s filings with the Commissions and the filings with the Commissions by intervenors that may impact the Company’s future rates, for any evidence that might contradict management’s assertions.
We evaluated management’s analysis regarding probability of recovery for regulatory assets or refund or future reduction in rates for regulatory liabilities not yet addressed in a regulatory order to assess management’s assertion that amounts are probable of recovery or a future reduction in rates.
We evaluated the Company’s disclosures related to the impacts of rate regulation, including the balances recorded and regulatory developments.
/s/DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
February 22, 2024
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2002.
A. REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of WEC Energy Group, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of WEC Energy Group, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedules as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, of the Company and our report dated February 22, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedules.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
February 22, 2024
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