WPS history

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 1951, WPSC divested its bus lines in Wausau and Merrill, and they began independent operation under the name Wausau Transit Lines.

1952: Standard Gas divests its entire stake in the company.

And it was first listed on the New York and Midwest stock exchanges in 1953.

In 1956, WPS began financing major medical or catastrophic health care expenses that could seriously disrupt a family's income.

In 1957, the WPS sales force was established, including the first agency contract.

In 1960, just two years after making a break from Blue Cross of Milwaukee, WPS met and achieved a significant sales objective by winning a contract to cover the surgical/medical portion of the State of Wisconsin employee benefits program.

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.

1963 By this time, 58% of Wisconsin Public Service customers were heating their homes with natural gas.

With the implementation of the federal Medicare program in 1966, WPS became the Part B (physicians services) administrator for Medicare beneficiaries in Wisconsin, except for Milwaukee County, which was a separate Medicare service area.

In 1967, the firm acquired the electrical distribution system for the municipality of Kewaunee, which had been owned by the city.

With approval of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, in 1969 the company began constructing a seven-story office building on the banks of the Fox River.

In 1970, the old Milwaukee mansion was vacated, and operations were consolidated at a new corporate headquarters in Green Bay.

In March 1971, Green County signed on as the first county wide customer.

In October 1972, Wisconsin Public Service asked the state Public Service Commission for permission to sell the bus service in Green Bay, the only remaining bus system it was operating.

Unfortunately, depleted natural gas wells, difficulty developing new sources of natural gas, and the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 led to restricted gas supplies across the nation.

1974: The Kewaunee nuclear plant begins operation.

In 1975, it posted revenues of $219.9 million, its best sales year ever.

1976 Wisconsin Public Service ended an era of selling appliances in all of its office locations.

He is the fourth President and CEO since WPS was incorporated in 1977.

Computer and accounting functions remained at the former East Lakeside Street facility in Madison until January 1978.

In October 1979, WPS developed and implemented a paperless claims processing system for the Medicare program.

With the award of the CHAMPUS South-Central Region contract in 1981, WPS moved quickly to allocate resources for an additional facility at 1617 Sherman Avenue in Madison, Wis.

1982 Wisconsin Public Service introduced a new bill, with more information to help customers concerned with energy conservation.

In 1984, also in a highly competitive procurement environment, WPS won a second major contract for the CHAMPUS Mid Atlantic Region, which included Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

In October 1986, WPS installed an IBM 3084QX. The IBM 3084QX provided 64 MB of memory and was rated at a capability of 32 million instructions per second (MIPS).

WPS broke ground in the spring of 1988 for a major new office building with over 153,000 square feet of floor space near our Monona location.

The structure was completed and dedicated by a formal open house in September 1989.

In 1990, WPS was awarded a $20 million United States Department of Defense contract.

In 1992, WPSC's contacts with the paper industry resulted in a joint venture seeking to find an efficient, ecologically sound way to generate electricity.

In late 1993, the firm adopted a holding company structure, forming WPS Resources Corporation to oversee subsidiary operations, which at the time included WPSC, WPS Energy Services Inc., WPS Power Development Inc., Packerland Energy Services Inc., and WPS Communications Inc.

1994 Wisconsin Public Service formed a holding company, named WPS Resources Corporation.

In June 1995, WPS partnered with ProVantage, a Milwaukee-area pharmacy benefits manager, to provide more competitive services.

In May 1996, a new partnership with Delta Dental of Wisconsin was created.

The firm bolstered its regulated holdings with the purchase of the Upper Peninsula Energy Corporation in 1997.

WPS processed more than 21 million Part B claims in 1998.

Jun 1999 Fourteen large wind turbines began making electricity for customers of Wisconsin Public Service.

By 2000, however, it was clear that the state would not open its industry to retail competition in the near future.

The official merger date would be April 1, 2001.

The company secured $112.5 million in net income during 2002--a 45 percent increase over the previous year.

Also in 2003, TriWest HealthCare Alliance won the TRICARE West Region contract; WPS administered claims as TriWest's subcontractor.

Dec 2004 WPS Resources Corporation (presented Wisconsin Governor James Doyle with a deed for approximately 12,000 acres of land donated and sold to the state by Wisconsin Public Service.

Jul 2005 Wisconsin Public Service and Wisconsin Power and Light Company transferred ownership of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant to Dominion Energy Kewaunee, a subsidiary of Dominion Resources.

Apr 2006 WPS Resources completed the purchase of the Michigan gas operations of Aquila, Inc.

Feb 2007 WPS Resources Corporation completed its merger with Peoples Energy Corporation.

The plant won the 2008 Plant of the Year Award from POWER magazine and Power Engineering's 2008 Best Coal-Fired Project award.

In 2010, WPS was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® for the first time by the international Ethisphere® Institute.

In December 2011, President Barack Obama established the first US NAP on Women, Peace and Security with Executive Order 13595, detailing the commitments of the Department of State, Department of Defense, US Agency for International Development, and other relevant federal agencies.

WPS was hit with big contract losses in 2012, when the TRICARE West Region contract and the Medicare Jurisdiction 6 contract were lost.

2013 Wisconsin Public Service purchased Fox Energy Center, a natural gas fueled electric generating unit.

In October 2014, work began on the Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3)/Choice contract for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

2015 Integrys Energy Group, Inc. and its operating companies were acquired and now do business as WEC Energy Group.

In 2016, WPS announced a new initiative with Aspirus, Inc. and created a new holding company, Arise Health Ventures.

Many countries have directed the implementation of UNSCR 1325 through national action plans (NAPs). By November 2017, more than 70 countries had adopted NAPs to ensure the meaningful participation of women in international peace and security decision-making.

The US Women, Peace, and Security Act (WPS Act) celebrated its first anniversary on October 6, 2018.

To avoid any potential conflict of interest with federal contracts, however, WPS sold its stake in Arise Health Ventures to Aspirus in 2019.

In March 2020, more than 93% of WPS employees began working remotely.

In March 2021, WPS signed a Wind-Down Agreement with TriWest after months of negotiations.