UW Madison Charter Street Plant
Natural gas power plant · Dane County, Wisconsin
Nameplate capacity
11 MW
Rank in Wisconsin
#100
of 278 plants
In service since
1965
January 1965
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Steam Turbine
- Operator
- State of Wisconsin
- County
- Dane County
- Generating units
- 2
- Share of state capacity
- 0.06%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Wisconsin
- #39 of 41
- EIA plant code
- 54408
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 9.7 MW | 9.7 MW | 1965 | Operating |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | 1.3 MW | 1.3 MW | 1965 | Standby/Backup: available for service but not normally used |
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
| Waxdale | Other | 12 MW |
| Portage Solar Plant | Solar | 12 MW |
| Wind Turbine | Wind | 11 MW |
| Dane County Airport Solar | Solar | 11 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 11 MW solar plant and a 11 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