Messages from Leadership

Read about MGE’s vision for advancing clean energy from our Chairman, President and CEO, and learn about MGE's commitment to safety, sustainability and environmental affairs from our Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary.

Our Vision

With roots in the community we serve dating back nearly 175 years, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) takes seriously our commitment to serve as your community energy company. Our more than 700 employees work every day to provide value and to deliver safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to our customers. This commitment to our mission is steadfast as our communities, our energy supply and our industry evolve. 

Industry-leading clean energy goals 
Consistent with our record of industry leadership, MGE was one of the first utilities nationwide to commit to net-zero carbon electricity by mid-century. This target built upon MGE’s Energy 2030 framework, introduced in 2015, which established goals and objectives for working with our customers to create a more sustainable future while ensuring continued top-ranked electric reliability and affordability. We said at the time that if we can go further faster by working with our customers, we will—and we are. 

In 2022, we accelerated our commitment to sustainable electricity by setting a goal to reduce carbon emissions at least 80% by 2030. By 2030, we expect every MGE electric customer will have 80% fewer carbon emissions from their electricity use simply by being an MGE customer. 

To achieve our goals, we are pursuing globally recognized decarbonization strategies. We are growing our use of cost-effective clean energy to serve all customers. With approximately a billion dollars in investment in clean energy expected from 2015 through 2028, renewable energy will play a significant role in helping to achieve our goals. Since fall 2015, when our Energy 2030 framework was announced and through year-end 2022, MGE has announced clean energy projects that we expect will increase our owned renewable capacity by more than nine times when completed. 

We are working with customers to facilitate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). MGE was a pioneer more than 15 years ago in our work to advance EVs. Since then, we have introduced innovative customer programs, resources and tools to help educate the community about the benefits of EVs, set our own fleet goal and, in 2022, unveiled an EV fast-charging hub with some of the most powerful charging stations in the region. 

For decades, MGE has worked to engage customers directly in energy efficiency opportunities. Today, we are engaging both residential and business customers in new technologies and related programs to better manage their energy use and our electric grid’s generating resources. Our partnerships and collaborations with organizations across our communities help to ensure all customers benefit from changing technology. 

Thank you for engaging with MGE through this report, which highlights some of the ways in which we are pursuing a more sustainable future, investing in our people and in our communities to create a strong future for your community energy company and those we are proud to serve.

Jeff Keebler
Chairman, President and CEO
MGE Energy and Madison Gas and Electric

Our Commitment

This year, employees of your community energy company celebrated 30 years of MGE’s Green Team. Three decades ago, a group of MGE employees teamed up to advance environmental protection throughout the organization. Their efforts to develop procedures and to coordinate information and programs evolved into MGE’s Green Team, of which all employees were members and were charged with making environmentally responsible choices at work. 

“We want all employees to realize that protecting the environment is an important factor of doing business today. That idea needs to be integrated into the daily work of each employee,” a founding member said at the time. 

The Green Team demonstrated early on MGE’s commitment to continuous improvement in sustainable practices. Today, the Green Team’s mission is thriving through MGE’s Sustainability Steering Team, which supports our sustainability engagement and benchmarking efforts; oversees our ISO 14001-based Environmental Management System; and reviews, evaluates and prioritizes continuous improvement opportunities for the company, among other team efforts.  

One such continuous improvement initiative relates to our ongoing analysis and inventory of all of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with our electric generation and distribution, our purchase and distribution of natural gas, and other sources. Earlier this year, MGE announced its commitment to net-zero methane emissions in our natural gas distribution system by 2035. If we can go further faster through, for example, the evolution of new technologies such as renewable natural gas, we will. We are working to reduce overall emissions from our natural gas distribution system cost-effectively as quickly as possible. 

Our emissions inventory and analysis documented that more than half of MGE’s total GHG emissions come from sources already included in the company’s goal of net-zero carbon electricity—our fossil-fueled electric generation facilities (Scope 1) and purchased power for resale (Scope 3). Further study of our Scope 3 emissions resulting from upstream and downstream natural gas is ongoing. 

In my role, I oversee safety, sustainability and environmental affairs. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish through our performance in these areas, some of which is shared in this report.  

I encourage you to visit our online ESG Data Center where we host additional disclosures such as our CDP climate change questionnaire, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures report, EEI-AGA sustainability reporting template and more. Your community energy company remains committed to accountability, transparency and engagement with our customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders as we work together to create a more sustainable energy future. 

Cari Anne Renlund
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
MGE Energy and Madison Gas and Electric