State electricity profile · EIA monthly through May 2026
Wisconsin Electricity
As of May 2026, residential electricity in Wisconsin costs 19.74¢ per kWh (+4.2% vs May 2025). EIA publishes these figures monthly and this page follows them. Wisconsin's 2025 annual residential electricity rate is 18.16¢/kWh, 5% above the US average. Both figures point the same way: an above-average rate and only 13% of generation from renewables. The fuel-by-fuel and sector detail is below.
- 19.74¢
- May 2026 rate
- +4.2%
- year over year
- 18.16¢/kWh
- Residential rate
- +5.0%
- vs US average
- 13%
- Renewable
- 2.9M
- Customers
Verify with EIA → · Methodology
18.16¢/kWh residential, 13.06¢/kWh commercial
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2025 annual-frequency retail-sales series, Wisconsin's residential average revenue per kWh is 18.16¢/kWh, with a commercial average of 13.06¢/kWh and an industrial average of 8.92¢/kWh; a separate EIA generation series for 2025 reports 13% of the state's generation from renewables.
- 5% above the US average vs national residential average
- 13% renewable generation
The verdict · 2025
Wisconsin's residential electricity runs 18.16¢/kWh - 5% above the 17.30¢/kWh national average, pricier than 70% of other states, with 13% of its power from renewables.
This is EIA state average revenue per kWh across 2.9M reported residential customers, a benchmark for comparing states, not the tariff on any single bill. Source: EIA retail-sales API, annual frequency.
Annual rate change
What changed in the 2025 annual EIA period
- Wisconsin's residential average rose from 17.18¢/kWh to 18.16¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +5.7%.
- Wisconsin's industrial average rose from 8.54¢/kWh to 8.92¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +4.4%.
- Wisconsin's commercial average rose from 12.63¢/kWh to 13.06¢/kWh between the 2024 and 2025 annual-frequency EIA retail-sales periods, a change of +3.4%.
Where Wisconsin's residential rate sits nationally
2025 average revenue per kWh across every reporting state
18.16¢/kWh 30th affordability percentile More affordable than 30% of 50 other states
all reporting states, equal-width bands
Each bar spans 5¢/kWh. Taller bars contain more states; the dashed marker locates this state. Hover, focus or tap a bar for its exact count and share.
Source U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · 2025 annual frequency
How Wisconsin compares
Average revenue per kWh, EIA retail-sales API. Pick a benchmark above to compare Wisconsin against the US average or a peer state.
What Wisconsin's Electricity Data Tells Us
Residential customers in Wisconsin pay 18.16¢/kWh in 2025, across 2.9M metered households, placing the state 5% above the national residential average of 17.30¢/kWh. Commercial rates sit at 13.06¢/kWh while industrial buyers pay 8.92¢/kWh. These sector averages describe recorded revenue per kWh; this dataset alone does not establish why they differ. Annual residential sales total 22.9M MWh on roughly $4.2B in utility revenue. Sales and revenue are reported retail-series measures and should not be treated as a local load forecast.
Wisconsin's industrial rate ranks 20 of 51 while its residential rate ranks 16, so the gap between what a factory and a household pay is narrower here than in most states. No single fuel reaches half of Wisconsin's in-state generation. Natural gas leads at 36.0%, with coal at 35.4% close enough behind that the mix reads as a balance rather than a clear lead. It is the leading fuel in 26 states. Renewable fuels (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass) account for 13.1% of Wisconsin's electricity output. These shares describe in-state generation, not a utility-specific customer bill.
Looking back across EIA records, residential prices in Wisconsin moved from 14.07¢/kWh in 2016 to 18.16¢/kWh in 2025, a 29.1% shift over that window. States charging a similar rate include Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania, a useful peer set for a sanity check. Because gas sets the price of the marginal megawatt-hour on a grid built around it, Wisconsin's residential rate tracks the fuel market with a lag: a gas-price winter shows up on bills months later, and a cheap gas year works its way through the same way. Above-average does not mean uniformly expensive. The figure blends every utility in Wisconsin, and in a state priced at this level the difference between its cheapest and dearest service territories usually matters more to a given bill than the state's rank does.
+5.0%
Near the US average vs the US residential average
30%
of states have higher rates — Above-average cost
13%
Low renewable share — below the 25% US mix
2.9M
residential customers served
Market Overview
Residential Revenue
$4.2B
Commercial Revenue
$3.1B
Residential Sales
22.9M MWh
Residential Customers
2.9M
Residential Price History
Wisconsin residential average revenue per kWh moved from 14.07¢/kWh in 2016 to 18.16¢/kWh in 2025 (29.1% over the window).
- Wisconsin residential avg
- 18.16¢/kWh 29.1% since 2016
- 2016 → 2025
- Wisconsin residential: 2016, 14.1¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2017, 14.4¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2018, 14¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2019, 14.2¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2020, 14.3¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2021, 14.5¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2022, 15.6¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2023, 16.9¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2024, 17.2¢
- Wisconsin residential: 2025, 18.2¢
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail-sales API · annual frequency. Wisconsin full trend →
Wisconsin Average Price by Sector and Year (¢/kWh)
The chart above tracks households only. In 2025, Wisconsin households paid 18.16¢/kWh while businesses paid 13.06¢/kWh, a 39.1% residential premium, a wider household-versus-business gap than most states. Every year EIA has published is below, so a single year can be read across all three sectors rather than assembled from three separate EIA queries.
| Year | Residential | Commercial | Industrial |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18.16¢/kWh | 13.06¢/kWh | 8.92¢/kWh |
| 2024 | 17.18¢/kWh | 12.63¢/kWh | 8.54¢/kWh |
| 2023 | 16.88¢/kWh | 12.76¢/kWh | 8.68¢/kWh |
| 2022 | 15.62¢/kWh | 11.85¢/kWh | 8.49¢/kWh |
| 2021 | 14.52¢/kWh | 10.95¢/kWh | 7.63¢/kWh |
| 2020 | 14.32¢/kWh | 10.75¢/kWh | 7.29¢/kWh |
| 2019 | 14.18¢/kWh | 10.72¢/kWh | 7.31¢/kWh |
| 2018 | 14.02¢/kWh | 10.67¢/kWh | 7.33¢/kWh |
| 2017 | 14.35¢/kWh | 10.87¢/kWh | 7.49¢/kWh |
| 2016 | 14.07¢/kWh | 10.77¢/kWh | 7.49¢/kWh |
Average revenue per kilowatt-hour, U.S. Energy Information Administration annual-frequency retail-sales series. Revenue per kWh is what customers in each sector actually paid on average, not an advertised tariff rate. Years with no EIA figure for a sector show —.
Who generates Wisconsin's electricity
Wisconsin has 603 operable generating units on EIA's inventory totalling 18,328 MW of net summer capacity. The largest single plant is Elm Road Generating Station , a conventional steam coal station operated by Wisconsin Electric Power Co , rated 1,271 MW.
The grid here is run by Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc., the balancing authority that keeps supply and demand matched across the state.
Showing the 16 largest of 270 operable plants in Wisconsin by net summer capacity.
| Plant | Operator | Technology | County | MW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elm Road Generating Station | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 1,271 |
| Port Washington Generating Station | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 1,237 |
| Point Beach Nuclear Plant | NextEra Energy Point Beach LLC | Nuclear | – | 1,205 |
| Columbia (WI) | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 1,128 |
| Weston | Wisconsin Public Service Corp | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 888 |
| West Riverside Energy Center | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 689 |
| South Oak Creek | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 616 |
| Fox Energy Center | Wisconsin Public Service Corp | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 578 |
| Riverside Energy Center | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Natural Gas Fired Combined Cycle | – | 535 |
| RockGen Energy Center | Dairyland Power Coop | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 489 |
| Edgewater | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 402 |
| Alliant Energy Neenah | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 401 |
| Sheboygan Falls | Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 396 |
| John P Madgett | Dairyland Power Coop | Conventional Steam Coal | – | 390 |
| Concord | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 367 |
| Paris (WI) | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | – | 360 |
| Operating company | Plants | Net summer MW |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Electric Power Co | 45 | 5,907 |
| Wisconsin Power & Light Co | 30 | 5,264 |
| Wisconsin Public Service Corp | 23 | 2,584 |
| NextEra Energy Point Beach LLC | 1 | 1,205 |
| Dairyland Power Coop | 4 | 962 |
| Northern States Power Co - Minnesota | 19 | 580 |
| Madison Gas & Electric Co | 17 | 520 |
| Manitowoc Public Utilities | 2 | 124 |
| Geronimo Power | 1 | 100 |
| Point Beach Solar | 1 | 100 |
Operable units only, from EIA's generator inventory as reported for 2026-05. Capacity is net summer rating, which is what a unit can reliably deliver in peak conditions rather than its nameplate figure. Ownership and operatorship can differ; the company shown is the one EIA records as operating the unit.
Energy Generation Mix (2025)
How Wisconsin generates its electricity, from the EIA generation series for 2025 (separate from the 2025 retail-sales price figures above). Renewable sources account for 13.1% of generation.
- Natural Gas36.0%
- Coal35.4%
- Nuclear15.4%
- Solarrenewable6.7%
- Hydrorenewable3.3%
- Windrenewable3.0%
- Petroleum0.1%
- Biomassrenewable0.1%
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does electricity cost in Wisconsin? ▼
Where does Wisconsin's residential electricity rate rank nationally? ▼
How much of Wisconsin's electricity is renewable? ▼
Are electricity prices going up in Wisconsin? ▼
What are commercial and industrial electricity rates in Wisconsin? ▼
Which energy sources generate the most electricity in Wisconsin? ▼
Where does RateWatt's Wisconsin electricity data come from? ▼
States with Similar Electricity Prices
Other states led by natural gas
These grids also report natural gas as their largest generation share in the latest EIA mix — a different peer set from the price neighbors above.
Using Wisconsin's numbers
With renewables still a small share of generation here, the figures above describe a mix that has further to travel than most. Watch what Wisconsin builds when its existing thermal capacity retires, because that is the decision the next decade of rates is made of.
- Wisconsin sits 5% above the national average, see exactly where it lands among all 50 states. See the rankings
- Check the multi-year trend before you judge the rate, a low price rising fast can cost more over a decade than a steady one. Wisconsin price trend
- Compare Wisconsin side by side with the US average and peer states using the tool above, then estimate your own bill from your monthly kWh. Cost calculator
Figures are EIA state averages by sector, computed as revenue divided by sales, so delivery and taxes are inside them but not broken out. Your actual rate depends on your utility, plan, and usage, see our disclaimer.
Read with Wisconsin: understanding electricity rates
Where Wisconsin's figures come from
Every price and generation figure on this page is drawn from the EIA series below, and from nothing else.
- 📊 EIA State Energy Profile, Wisconsin State energy database
- ⚡ EIA Electric Power Monthly The monthly and annual price series behind every rate here
- 🌿 EIA generation by source The in-state generation shares quoted above
- 📖 Our methodology Source-to-figure lineage, and further federal energy references
Utilities serving Wisconsin
The 66 utilities that reported bundled residential service in Wisconsin to EIA Form 861 (2024), largest first. Entity prices below are Form 861 averages for that release, not the same survey as the 2025 retail-sales statewide average above, and not a household tariff. What an individual household pays depends on which of these serves its address.
| Utility | Ownership | Customers | Avg ¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Investor Owned | 1.0M | 19.23¢ |
| Wisconsin Power & Light Co | Investor Owned | 437.2K | 16.89¢ |
| Wisconsin Public Service Corp | Investor Owned | 411.8K | 16.23¢ |
| Northern States Power Co | Investor Owned | 220.6K | 15.83¢ |
| Madison Gas & Electric Co | Investor Owned | 147.5K | 20.34¢ |
| Adams-Columbia Electric Coop | Cooperative | 35.9K | 17.63¢ |
| Polk-Burnett Electric Coop | Cooperative | 20.4K | 15.90¢ |
| Barron Electric Coop | Cooperative | 19.3K | 15.72¢ |
| Riverland Energy Cooperative | Cooperative | 19.0K | 16.30¢ |
| Oakdale Electric Coop | Cooperative | 17.0K | 15.87¢ |
| Sun Prairie Utilities | Municipal | 16.6K | 12.13¢ |
| Manitowoc Public Utilities | Municipal | 16.2K | 11.15¢ |
| City of Kaukauna | Municipal | 14.5K | 12.53¢ |
| Scenic Rivers Energy Coop | Cooperative | 13.6K | 15.23¢ |
| Superior Water and Light Co | Investor Owned | 13.1K | 15.44¢ |
Showing the 15 largest of 66 reporting utilities. The 5 serving 100.0K+ residential customers link to a full profile. Presence in EIA Form 861 is not evidence that a utility is available at a given address or that a customer may choose it.
Related
Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Every figure on RateWatt is rendered directly from official U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, no number is typed in by an editor. Statewide prices use the EIA retail-sales annual series (2025). Generation mix uses a separate EIA generation series (2025). Utility rows use Form EIA-861 (2024) and are not averaged into the statewide retail-sales figure. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2025.