Wisconsin Energy Corporation : Wisconsin Energy, Wisconsin Electric Declare Quarterly Dividends

MILWAUKEE, Jan. 19, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- The boards of directors of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC) and Wisconsin Electric Power Company today declared quarterly dividends.

Wisconsin Energy
The Wisconsin Energy board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 30 centsa share on the company's common stock consistent with the plan the board announced at its December 2011meeting.  This represents an increase of 4 centsa share over the current quarterly rate and raises the annual rate from $1.04to $1.20a share. The dividend is payable March 1, 2012, to stockholders of record on Feb. 14, 2012.  This marks the 278th consecutive quarter - dating back to 1942 - that the company will have paid a dividend to its stockholders.

Wisconsin Energy Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Gale Klappasaid, "Today's action by our board marks another positive step toward making our dividend payout more competitive with our peers across the industry.

"In addition, the board adopted a revised policy today that calls for the company to reach a dividend payout ratio of 60 percent of earnings in 2014 - one year earlier than our previous goal," Klappa added.

"This revised policy is consistent with our key financial goals: to maintain strong 'A' category credit ratings at our utilities and fund new investment opportunities without issuing additional shares of common stock," he said.

Wisconsin Electric
The Wisconsin Electric board of directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 90 centsa share on the Preferred Stock, 3.60% Series, payable March 1, 2012, to stockholders of record on Feb. 14, 2012.  The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50a share on the Six Per Cent Preferred Stock payable April 30, 2012, to stockholders of record on April 13, 2012.

Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation's premier energy companies, serving more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsinand Michigan's Upper Peninsula and more than 1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. The company's principal utility is We Energies. The company's other major subsidiary, We Power, designs, builds and owns electric generating plants.

), a component of the S&P 500, has more than $13 billion of assets, approximately 4,600 employees and more than 43,000 stockholders of record.

Wisconsin Electric Power Co., doing business as We Energies, is a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC).  The company serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsinand Michigan's Upper Peninsula and more than 460,000 natural gas customers in Wisconsin.  Visit the We Energies website at we-energies.com.

Forward-looking statements
Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the statements.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements.  Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning management's expectations and projections regarding dividend payments, dividend payout ratios and other matters.  In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans" "possible," "potential," "projects," "should" or similar terms or variations of these terms.

Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in forward-looking statements.  In addition to the assumptions and other factors referred to specifically in connection with these statements, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions; business, competitive and regulatory conditions in the consolidating energy industry; varying weather conditions; catastrophic weather-related or terrorism-related damage; availability of electric generating facilities; unanticipated changes in purchased power costs; unanticipated changes in coal or natural gas prices and supply and transportation availability; the ability to recover fuel and purchased power costs; nonperformance by purchased power or natural gas suppliers under existing contracts; environmental incidents; key personnel changes; inflation rates; customer growth and declines; customer business conditions, including demand for their products and services; energy conservation efforts; timing, resolution and impact of pending and future rate cases and other regulatory decisions; construction risks; changes in the interpretation or enforcement of permit conditions by permitting agencies; restrictions imposed by financing arrangements and regulatory requirements on the ability of the company's subsidiaries to transfer funds to it in the form of cash dividends, loans or advances; current and future litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings or inquiries, including Federal Energy Regulatory Commission matters and Internal Revenue Service audits and other tax matters; the impact of recent and future federal, state and local legislative and regulatory changes; equity and bond market fluctuations and events in the global credit markets that may affect the availability and cost of capital; the investment performance of the company's pension and other post-retirement benefit trusts; the financial performance of the American Transmission Company; foreign, governmental, economic, political and currency risks; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Wisconsin Energy Corporation

news media, Brian Manthey, [phone], [e-mail], or analysts, Colleen F. Henderson, CFA, [phone], [e-mail], both of Wisconsin Energy Corporation