2. COMMUNITY
The differences between people shape the world we live
in. Every employee, customer and investor of Integrys
Energy Group has a view of our world that cannot be
duplicated.
Yet we all share one thing in common: community.
Each of us resides in a community where we live, work
and grow. Integrys Energy Group believes in giving back
to our local communities, in exchange for the privilege of
serving them.
Our charitable foundation, Wisconsin Public Service
Foundation (operating in the areas of Michigan Gas
Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources, Upper Peninsula
Power Company, Wisconsin Public Service and Integrys
Energy Services), provides more than $1 million annually
to support organizations focused on education, arts and
culture, environmental causes, health and human services
and community development. Peoples Gas and North
Shore Gas contribute more than $1 million each year to
these types of organizations in the greater Chicago area.
At every Integrys company our employees and retirees are
the hands, hearts, minds and smiles that help get the work
done in countless ways for our communities.
Look inside to read more about their contributions.
To learn even more, please visit us at integrysgroup.com
and click on Community.
3. hands, hearts, minds & smiles in the community
• On many school days, you’re likely to find representatives customers. The customers have an easier time managing their
from our utilities in middle schools conducting electric and heating bills and are better prepared to enjoy a cozy winter.
natural gas safety demonstrations. These demonstrations
• Employees from across all of our companies choose service
are a longstanding tradition of educating today’s youth
over self by helping those in need during the holidays.
about energy safety.
Instead of having traditional holiday parties, some employees
• For 20 years Integrys companies have participated in celebrate the season by adopting families to share a meal with
school-business partnerships. Students learn about the and prepare gift baskets to make many homes brighter.
world of work while we learn about the promising
• Employees and retirees in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin,
individuals we will someday serve as our customers and
as well as many other areas, multiply the impact of their personal
employ in our companies.
volunteerism through our Dollars for Doers program. When
• Our employees are well-known for lending a hand to they volunteer 20 or more hours of their own time to a
create parks and playgrounds for our youngest community qualifying organization, our foundation makes a contribution
members. One example is an employee-built play system to that organization.
in Eagan, Minnesota, at the B. Robert Lewis House, a safe
• Our local offices proudly support local festivals, parades and
place for women and children experiencing domestic
fairs. Through sponsorships, hands-on help or even our trucks
violence.
on parade, we share in these rituals that bring our community
• Each fall employees from Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas members closer together.
and Wisconsin Public Service volunteer for Team H.E.A.T.
For more stories, visit us at integrysgroup.com and click on
(Home Energy Assistance Together), our community
Community.
initiative to weatherize homes for limited-income
4. ENVIRONMENT
Everywhere you look today, you can see a common theme:
be green. What does that mean for an energy company like
Integrys Energy Group?
It means we must work to provide our customers with energy
while finding ways to help preserve a clean, healthy world.
Our most visible environmental efforts center on the way we
produce and deliver energy. At our electric utilities, we strive
to make the best environmental decisions for our customers,
investors and employees. Our newest electric generating
unit, Weston 4, uses the cleanest coal technology available to
produce reasonably priced power. We’re also investing in new
wind generation to meet our responsibility to use renewable
power. Each of our natural gas companies is focused on
providing one of the cleanest fuels on Earth.
At Integrys Energy Services, our nonregulated energy
company, our customers’ newfound focus on green living is
driving the creation of new products and services, including
solar energy, biogas and renewable energy credits.
Ultimately, at every Integrys company, we are keeping our
eye on the environment. Look inside to read more about our
efforts. For even more stories, visit us at integrysgroup.com
and click on Environment.
5. stewards of the environment
• Each spring, Wisconsin Public Service electric generating
plants in Wausau and Green Bay become the birthplace of
endangered peregrine falcons. Our employees watch the
nesting, egg laying, hatching and eventual departure of the
falcons like proud parents.
• Our Environmental Services group undertakes many efforts
across our service areas for control of invasive species, which
can threaten the existence of native plants and animals. At
Upper Peninsula Power Company, employees control the
overgrowth of an aggressive garlic mustard plant, which takes
over areas in forests and crowds out other plants.
• Michigan Gas Utilities and Wisconsin Public Service help farm
customers turn manure into valuable biofuel. We are happy
to share our knowledge about anaerobic digestion, which
converts manure into usable energy. In fact, in some
situations, we are able to buy excess energy from farmers
who have a surplus.
• More than 40 high schools are in the Wisconsin Public Service
SolarWise for Schools® program. These schools receive a • In Illinois, we’ve adopted green technology by using
donated photovoltaic system for their school, the energy the biodiesel and hybrid vehicles. Our companies there
system generates, a solar curriculum for students and the encourage energy conservation and protection of the
opportunity to compete in an annual Solar Olympics event. environment, as demonstrated by the Smart Home, a
“green home” Peoples Gas sponsors at the Museum
• Integrys Gas Group, on behalf of all of our natural gas utilities,
of Science and Industry in Chicago.
reclaims used lubricants and glycol. Previously viewed as
waste products, these chemicals are captured after use, run • The next facility to be built in the Integrys family will be a
through a chemical reclaiming unit and used again. Wisconsin Public Service office in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
This Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
• Our electric generating facilities incorporate environmental
(LEED)-certified building will exemplify green construction.
features, including fish barriers, to prevent fish from entering
plant intake pipes; fly ash collection, to keep ash from • Integrys Energy Services partners with others across the nation
entering the environment and enable it to be reused for to produce significant amounts of renewable energy, including
other purposes; and wastewater treatment, which removes a 6.4-megawatt landfill-gas-to-electricity plant in Rockford,
unwanted chemicals from the plants’ discharge water. We’re Illinois. The company has created a new business segment
also in the process of adding emissions-control equipment to focusing on renewable energy, efficiency and conservation.
our plants.
If you are interested in learning more about our dedication to
• At all of our companies, we offer electronic billing, payment the environment, visit us at integrysgroup.com and click on
and service options, which eliminate paper use and add Environment.
convenience to our customers’ lives.
This brochure has been printed on 30% post-consumer recycled paper.
6. Dear Reader,
Integrys Energy Group is a premier and
growing energy enterprise, with local energy
companies serving a multitude of communities.
We are 5,000 employees-strong. And therein
lies the secret to our success. Our employees
are not only talented energy professionals; they are the heart of our
business, bringing their commitment to community and their
appreciation for nature to life in our company.
Our employees volunteer their own time in the community, act on
behalf of our companies to support local groups and protect the
environment, and inspire new corporate initiatives to do even more.
This brochure captures the essence of this dedication, but we
cannot begin to tell the whole story here.
Please visit our Web site, integrysgroup.com, where we share even
more about the heartfelt efforts the people of Integrys make for our
world every day.
Sincerely,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Integrys Energy Group
157-1752
05/08
