Electricity Price History in Wisconsin
Wisconsin residential electricity averaged 19.74¢/kWh in May 2026. Below is the year-by-year record — the average rate for each year and how much it changed from the year before — followed by what the series does and does not show about Wisconsin prices. Data comes from EIA residential retail sales.
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Price Trend
Wisconsin electricity rates by year
| Year | Average rate | Change (¢/kWh) | Change (%) | Compared with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–May) | 18.94 ¢/kWh | +1.00 | +5.6% | Jan–May 2025 (17.93¢) |
| 2025 | 18.19 ¢/kWh | +0.99 | +5.7% | 2024 (17.20¢) |
| 2024 | 17.20 ¢/kWh | +0.31 | +1.8% | 2023 (16.89¢) |
| 2023 | 16.89 ¢/kWh | +1.23 | +7.8% | 2022 (15.66¢) |
| 2022 | 15.66 ¢/kWh | +1.11 | +7.6% | 2021 (14.55¢) |
| 2021 | 14.55 ¢/kWh | +0.20 | +1.4% | 2020 (14.35¢) |
| 2020 | 14.35 ¢/kWh | +0.12 | +0.9% | 2019 (14.23¢) |
| 2019 | 14.23 ¢/kWh | +0.18 | +1.3% | 2018 (14.05¢) |
| 2018 | 14.05 ¢/kWh | −0.33 | −2.3% | 2017 (14.38¢) |
| 2017 | 14.38 ¢/kWh | +0.28 | +2.0% | 2016 (14.10¢) |
| 2016 | 14.10 ¢/kWh | −0.05 | −0.3% | 2015 (14.15¢) |
Yearly figures are the average of the monthly EIA residential rates for that year. A year that is incomplete is labelled with the months it covers, and its change is measured against the same months of the previous year — residential rates are seasonal, so comparing a part-year against a full year would measure the season rather than the trend. Every row carries its own change, including the oldest one shown: its comparison year is the year immediately before the table starts. Where a comparison period is missing entirely, the change columns are left blank rather than filled with a zero.
Why did electricity prices rise in Wisconsin?
What the EIA series shows
- Past 12 months (May 2025 → May 2026)
- The Wisconsin residential rate rose 4.2% (+0.80¢/kWh), from 18.94¢ in May 2025 to 19.74¢ in May 2026.
- Past 5 years (May 2021 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 29.1% (+4.45¢/kWh), from 15.29¢ in May 2021 to 19.74¢ in May 2026.
- Past 10 years (May 2016 → May 2026)
- The rate rose 34.5% (+5.06¢/kWh), from 14.68¢ in May 2016 to 19.74¢ in May 2026.
- Highest and lowest month on record
- In this series the Wisconsin rate peaked at 19.74¢/kWh in May 2026 and bottomed at 7.46¢/kWh in January 2001. The series covers January 2001 to May 2026.
- Steepest 12-month increase
- The largest single-year move in the series ended in January 2009: the rate rose 12.5% (+1.34¢/kWh), from 10.68¢ in January 2008 to 12.02¢ in January 2009. That is when the change happened; the series does not say what caused it.
- Against the rest of the country
- Over the same window the unweighted average across the 51 jurisdictions with data for this period rose 34.4%, so Wisconsin's +29.1% lagged the nationwide move by 5.3 percentage points. That gap is the part of the movement this dataset cannot attribute to a nationwide trend — it does not identify what else was involved.
- Rank among jurisdictions (May 2021 → May 2026)
- Measured over that identical five-year window, Wisconsin's change is the 24th largest of the 51 jurisdictions whose series covers it — rank 1 is the biggest increase, rank 51 the biggest decrease. The rank places the movement; it does not explain it.
What can move rates in Wisconsin — context, not proof
A rate series shows what changed, not why. This dataset records Wisconsin's residential rate and nothing about what moved it, and no reviewed Wisconsin driver analysis is published yet — so this page makes no causal claim. The factors that generally move retail rates are documented separately.
The categories generally involved are generation mix, fuel costs, transmission and distribution investment, capacity markets, regulatory rate cases, demand growth, and weather-driven peaks. Which of them applies to Wisconsin, and by how much, is not something this price series can answer.
Wisconsin electricity price drivers · How generation and fuel costs feed into retail rates · How these figures are calculated
More Data & Comparisons
- Electricity inflation in Wisconsin — Price growth, trends, rankings
- Electricity cost in Wisconsin — Rates, value score, affordability
- Average electricity bill in Wisconsin — Monthly and annual bill estimates
- Wisconsin electricity rates — Statewide overview and how Wisconsin ranks
- Electricity cost calculator for Wisconsin — Usage-based estimates
- Full Wisconsin knowledge page — Rates, value score, affordability, trends
- All states price history
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much have electricity prices changed in Wisconsin?
- Electricity prices in Wisconsin have increased 29.1% over the past 5 years. The 1-year increase is 4.2%. The annualized 5-year increase is approximately 5.2% per year.
- What drove the change in Wisconsin electricity prices?
- Measured from EIA residential data, the Wisconsin rate rose 29.1% (+4.45¢/kWh), from 15.29¢ in May 2021 to 19.74¢ in May 2026. The series itself does not identify a cause, and no reviewed Wisconsin driver analysis is published yet, so no cause is claimed here.
- When were Wisconsin electricity rates highest and lowest?
- In EIA residential data covering January 2001 to May 2026, the Wisconsin rate was highest at 19.74¢/kWh in May 2026 and lowest at 7.46¢/kWh in January 2001. The most recent reading is 19.74¢/kWh in May 2026.