October 10, 2024

Wisconsin communities named national leaders in renewable energy

Member Utilities

Public power utilities in Wisconsin again have been ranked as some of the leading communities in the nation by the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory for their participation and sales rates in renewable energy programs.

NREL evaluated the renewable energy efforts of utilities in four categories and released lists of the top 15 utilities across the nation.

Columbus Utilities, Muscoda Utilities, River Falls Municipal Utilities, Stoughton Utilities, Sun Prairie Utilities, Waunakee Utilities, Waterloo Utilities and Westby Utilities all earned spots, with River Falls and Stoughton being recognized in two categories. The utilities are all not-for-profit, locally owned utilities. They are members of WPPI Energy, a wholesale power provider owned by the membership it serves.

Green Power Sales Rate
Waterloo Utilities received second place in the nation and RFMU ranked third. Stoughton was eighth, Sun Prairie at 11th and Columbus at 12th on the list for Green Power Sales Rate. The Green Power Sales Rate compares the ratio of a utility’s renewable energy sales to total sales. In 2023, renewable energy accounted for over 17% of Waterloo Utilities’ sales, more than 9% of RFMU’s sales, over 4% for Stoughton, 3.6% for SPU and 3.5% of Columbus’ sales.

Green Power Participation Rate
The Green Power Participation Rate measures the percentage of customers who participate in a utility’s renewable or “green” energy programs. In 2023, over 16% of RFMU customers voluntarily participated in Choose Renewable, putting the utility in third place.

Westby was seventh with a rate of 5.2% and Stoughton ranked eighth with over 5%. Receiving 10th place for Green Power Participation was Muscoda Utilities, with just under 5% of customers participating, and Waunakee Utilities was 11th in the nation with just under 4.6%.

Reaching toward a zero-carbon future
“These rankings throughout the years show that accessible renewable energy is more important than ever for the residents of our member communities,” said WPPI Energy CEO Mike Peters. “Our member communities are leading the way with renewable energy programs. This is a time-tested dedication to reducing carbon emissions.”

Customer participation in the WPPI Energy membership’s Choose Renewable program helped the communities obtain the recognition. The program allows customers to sign up to increase their monthly bill by a few dollars to offset their energy usage with power from renewable resources such as solar, wind and biogas. One Choose Renewable block of 300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) costs $2 per month. A typical home can run on the equivalent of two to three blocks.

These Wisconsin municipal utilities are members of WPPI Energy, a not-for-profit joint action agency owned by the 51 member utilities it serves. WPPI Energy has set a target to become carbon neutral by 2050.