When Gale Klappa, chairman of the board of WEC Energy Group and proud University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumnus, speaks to students, his wisdom carries the weight of decades of leadership — and the humor of someone who has never forgotten where he started.
He told Lubar College investment management students that his journey began not at Notre Dame, as he had once planned, but at UWM — a choice made for personal reasons that ended up shaping his career. “It was a very good decision,” he said with a smile.
Klappa, who grew up in Wisconsin Rapids and began his career at Southern Company in Atlanta, shared stories that spanned decades of leadership in the energy industry. He built a career that has made him one of Wisconsin’s most respected executives. He spent nearly 29 years at Southern Company before returning to his home state to lead Wisconsin Energy and, later, oversee its acquisition of Integrys Energy Group in 2015. The merger created WEC Energy Group, now the Midwest’s largest utility system, serving more than 4.7 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.
There are three rules Klappa lives by when it comes to mergers and acquisitions: “Make sure you don’t overpay, don’t trash your balance sheet, and always ask whether your projected growth is at least as strong as your organic rate.” Those principles, he said, continue to guide WEC Energy Group’s success as it invests heavily in clean energy and reliability.
Klappa continues to look far ahead. “Electricity is the new oil,” he told the class. “Electricity is what will fuel AI.” He described how the company’s investments, from wind and solar to natural gas and nuclear, are positioning Wisconsin to power a new generation of innovation.
His focus on strategy is matched by a deep commitment to customers and communities. “You can’t over-communicate,” he said. “We have a fanatical focus on customer service. If you’re providing a service to people, you’ve got to be the kind of organization they want to do business with.”
For Lubar students, access to leaders like Klappa is one of the advantages of studying in Milwaukee, the state’s economic hub and headquarters for many of its most influential companies. There are six Fortune 500 companies in the metro area.
“The greatest satisfaction any of us who’ve led companies can have,” Klappa said, “is seeing your colleagues, and the next generation, reach their full potential.”