Where Wisconsin Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 35.7% | 23,207 GWh |
| Coal | 33.8% | 21,977 GWh |
| Nuclear | 15.4% | 10,038 GWh |
| Wind | 2.9% | 1,877 GWh |
| Solar | 6.6% | 4,308 GWh |
| Hydro | 3.6% | 2,315 GWh |
| Other | 2.0% | 1,301 GWh |
65 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 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 463 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 6.6% to 7.3%.
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 35.7% of Wisconsin's electricity generation in the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, making it the largest source. Coal provided 33.8%, and nuclear accounted for 15.4%. Together, renewable sources generated 14.8% of the state's electricity, with solar (utility-scale alone) at 6.6% and including rooftop solar at 7.3%, hydro at 3.6%, and wind at 2.9%. Carbon-free generation—renewables plus nuclear—reached 30.3% of the total.
Wisconsin's renewable share of 14.8% ranked 30th among the 50 states and DC, falling 10.6 percentage points below the national average of 25.4%. Solar alone ranked 21st nationally. The state generated a substantially higher share of coal than the nation, at 33.8% versus 15.4%, while its gas share at 35.7% was slightly lower than the national 40.9%. Of Wisconsin's four bordering states, three—Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois—generated higher renewable shares, while Michigan's renewable share at 14.1% was lower.
The state's generation mix has shifted markedly since 2001. Coal fell from 70.2% in 2001 to 35.0% in 2025, while natural gas rose from 3.8% to 35.6%. Renewable generation climbed from 5.4% in 2001 to 14.1% in 2025, driven almost entirely by growth in solar, which rose from 0% to 6.0%, and wind, which increased from 0.1% to 2.9%. Nuclear declined slightly from 19.6% to 15.3% across this period.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 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 August 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.