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Big Falls

Hydro power plant · Rusk County, Wisconsin

Nameplate capacity
7.7 MW
Rank in Wisconsin
#115
of 278 plants
In service since
1993
September 1993

Details

Primary fuel
Hydro
Technology
Conventional Hydroelectric
Operator
Northern States Power Co - Minnesota
County
Rusk County
Generating units
3
Share of state capacity
0.04%
Rank among hydro plants in Wisconsin
#18 of 61
EIA plant code
3983

Generating units

Individual generating units at Big Falls
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
1Conventional Hydroelectric2.6 MW1.1 MW2022Operating
2Conventional Hydroelectric2.6 MW1.1 MW2022Operating
3Conventional Hydroelectric2.5 MW1.1 MW1993Operating

Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.

Similarly sized plants in Wisconsin

Hermsdorf SolarSolar8.0 MW
Solon DieselOther8.0 MW
Stevens Point MillNatural gas7.6 MW
Bonduel Solar WI, LLCSolar7.5 MW

About this data

From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 7.7 MW solar plant and a 7.7 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.

“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Wisconsin power plants · What Wisconsin actually generates