Hartford Electric electricity rates
Hartford Electric charges an average of 11.71 cents per kilowatt-hour to residential customers, and the average household on its system paid $72 a month using 618 kilowatt-hours, according to its 2024 filing with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Municipal utility MISO Wisconsin
Where Hartford Electric sits
It is a smaller system, serving 6,998 residential customers, which means its fixed costs are spread across a narrow base. At 11.71¢ per kilowatt-hour it is one of the cheaper places to buy electricity in Wisconsin, 40.7% under the statewide average of 19.74¢.
Its customers use very little electricity by national standards, 618 kilowatt-hours a month against 871 nationally. Dense housing, a mild climate or heating that runs on gas rather than electricity all push consumption down, and any of them can leave a household with a modest bill despite a high rate.
Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate. That matters because a bill is not only the cost of generating electricity: it also carries the cost of the network, and who owns that network changes how it is paid for.
| Rate | Monthly bill | Monthly kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford Electric | 11.71¢ | $72 | 618 |
| Wisconsin average | 19.74¢ | $123 | 664 |
| United States average | 18.44¢ | $155 | 871 |
Utility figures: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024. State and national figures: Electric Power Monthly, May 2026. Methodology
Where Hartford Electric delivers
Its service territory covers 2 Wisconsin counties, either wholly or in part. Utility boundaries follow historic franchise agreements rather than county lines, so a county appearing here does not mean every address in it is served by Hartford Electric.
- Dodge
- Washington
How often the power goes out
In 2024 the average Hartford Electric customer went 2 minutes without electricity across 0.03 interruptions. The median across the 941 utilities that report this is 185 minutes.
That is markedly better than typical. Short outage durations usually mean an underground or heavily automated network, and they are expensive to achieve, which is part of why reliable systems often carry higher delivery charges.
Optional rate plans
Hartford Electric offers time-of-use pricing to residential customers. 60 households were enrolled, about 0.9% of its residential base.
These plans are opt-in almost everywhere. They reward households that can move laundry, dishwashing, water heating or electric vehicle charging out of the late-afternoon peak, and they cost more than the standard rate for households that cannot. How to tell which group you are in.
Rooftop solar on this system
16 residential customers had net-metered solar in 2024, totalling 0.14 megawatts. That works out to 2.3 installations per thousand customers, against a median of 8 across the utilities reporting it.
Adoption is below the national median. A low retail rate reduces what solar displaces, and export compensation set at avoided cost rather than the retail rate reduces it further. What exports are actually worth.
Other Wisconsin utilities
| Utility | Rate | Bill | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Electric Power Co | 19.23¢ | $120 | 1.0 million |
| Wisconsin Power & Light Co | 16.89¢ | $114 | 437,211 |
| Rock Energy Cooperative | 14.47¢ | $138 | 7,310 |
| City of River Falls | 13.28¢ | $84 | 6,709 |
| Village of Waunakee | 11.70¢ | $83 | 6,677 |
Hartford Electric rates: common questions
How much does Hartford Electric charge per kilowatt-hour?
An average of 11.71 cents per kilowatt-hour across its residential customers in 2024. That is -40.7% against the Wisconsin average of 19.74¢ and -36.5% against the national average of 18.44¢. It is an all-in average across every residential rate schedule the utility offers, not a specific tariff.
What is the average Hartford Electric bill?
$72 a month, based on total residential revenue divided by residential customers over the 2024 survey year, at an average of 618 kWh a month. The national average bill is $155 at 871 kWh.
Who owns Hartford Electric?
It is classified by the EIA as a municipal utility. Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate.
Is Hartford Electric expensive compared with other Wisconsin utilities?
It ranks #53 of the 60 Wisconsin utilities covered here, counting from the most expensive. Nationally it ranks #1089 of 1369.