Where Wisconsin Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 36.3% | 23,633 GWh |
| Coal | 32.9% | 21,398 GWh |
| Nuclear | 15.4% | 10,040 GWh |
| Wind | 2.9% | 1,884 GWh |
| Solar | 6.5% | 4,255 GWh |
| Hydro | 3.9% | 2,519 GWh |
| Other | 2.0% | 1,308 GWh |
65 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Wisconsin, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.
Counting rooftop solar
EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Wisconsin generated 448 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 6.5% to 7.2%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 3.8% | 35.6% | +31.8 pts |
| Coal | 70.2% | 35.0% | −35.2 pts |
| Nuclear | 19.6% | 15.3% | −4.3 pts |
| Wind | 0.1% | 2.9% | +2.8 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 6.0% | +6.0 pts |
| Hydro | 3.5% | 3.3% | −0.2 pts |
| Other | 2.8% | 1.9% | −0.9 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Wisconsin's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 36.7% of Wisconsin's electricity generation since June 2025, making it the largest source. Nuclear provided 15.3%, a second major contributor to carbon-free output. Renewables accounted for 14.8% of generation, placing the state 29th among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Carbon-free sources together made up 30.1% of the mix, while fossil fuels supplied 69.7%.
Solar was the third-largest renewable source. Utility-scale solar alone represented 6.4% of generation, while including rooftop solar raised the share to 7.0%. Wind generated 2.9%, hydro 3.7%, and other sources—a category that includes geothermal and biomass alongside petroleum and pumped storage—contributed 2.0%.
Wisconsin's generation mix has shifted substantially since 2001. Coal, which dominated at 70.2% that year, fell to 35.0% in 2025. Natural gas rose from 3.8% to 35.6%, becoming nearly as large. Renewables grew from 5.4% in 2001 to 14.1% in 2025, driven largely by solar, which grew from zero to 6.0%. Wind added 2.8 percentage points. Compared with the nation, Wisconsin relies more heavily on coal and less on renewables; the national renewable share stands 10.1 percentage points higher. Most neighbouring states generate renewables at higher rates; only Michigan, at 13.5%, falls below Wisconsin.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Wisconsin's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Wisconsin's power comes from solar?
›Where does Wisconsin get most of its electricity?
›Does Wisconsin still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Wisconsin getting greener?
How this is measured
Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to June 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.
“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.
This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.