Wausau Pilot & Review
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By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
Wausau’s rooftops could generate more electricity than the entire city uses, according to city data up for a committee vote next week.
The figure appears in the draft Climate Action Work Plan going before the city’s Sustainability, Energy and Environment Committee on Thursday, Aug. 13. The committee meets at 5 p.m. in the Maple Room at City Hall, 407 Grant St. Public comment is taken at the start of the meeting.
Using Google Project Sunroof, the draft plan estimates Wausau has 19.6 million square feet of viable roof space — about 77% of the city’s roofs — capable of supporting 446 megawatts of solar capacity and producing 501,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year.
Wisconsin Public Service reported the city used 452,674,752 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2025, or roughly 452,675 megawatt-hours. That means the rooftop estimate is about 111% of what Wausau actually consumed last year.
The draft plan does not make that comparison. It presents the solar figures and the utility figures in separate sections seven pages apart.
The rooftop number is a technical and economic estimate of what is physically possible, not a projection of what will be built, and it does not account for the mismatch between when solar panels produce power and when buildings need it.
The committee will consider approving the Existing Conditions, Demographics and Energy Use sections of the plan, along with a community sustainability survey, a business sustainability survey, and dissemination plans and timelines for both.
The surveys ask residents and business owners to rank priorities including flooding and extreme weather, environmental health, waste management, food security and sustainable transportation. The community survey also asks whether respondents know the city passed a 2023 resolution setting a goal of 100% clean energy for city government operations by 2050.
The committee will separately discuss the Transportation and Waste sections, an August presentation to the Common Council, and Earth Week initiatives. Committee documents set an Earth Week target of April 2027 and list ideas including a trash fashion show, a tree planting, sustainability tours of local employers and an art project built around native plantings in a public space.
The full plan is scheduled for adoption next year.
The energy burden gap
The draft plan reports that the average Wausau household spent about 3% of its income on electricity and natural gas in 2022, matching the statewide average.
That average conceals a wide spread. Households earning 30% or less of the area median income spend about 15% of their income on energy, according to U.S. Department of Energy data included in the draft — roughly five times the citywide figure.
The draft describes that number as still lower than the national average, which the same chart puts at about 16%.
Meanwhile, the plan cites a United Way report finding 40% of Wausau households fell below the ALICE threshold in 2025 — meaning they earned more than the federal poverty level but less than the basic cost of living. The city’s official poverty rate is 14.4%. Per capita income is $35,290 and median household income is $61,877, both below state figures.
Forty-two percent of Wausau households rent. Committee members raised that point at their July meeting, where member Jesse Kearns suggested adding owner-renter data to the plan and noted landlords could be targeted with education about energy upgrades. Member Christine Daniels asked for updated ALICE data, and member Lauren Leitner asked for education data. All three additions appear in the August draft.
Renters generally pay the utility bills but do not control decisions about insulation, windows or heating systems — a mismatch that has made low-income rental housing among the hardest targets for efficiency programs.
Driving is up
The plan’s stated transportation goal is reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips. The trend runs the other way.
Wisconsin Department of Transportation data in the draft shows Marathon County drivers logged 1.91 billion vehicle miles in 2024, up from 1.53 billion in 2020. Much of that reflects a rebound from pandemic-era lows; measured from 2021, the increase is about 10%.
Census data in the plan shows 73% of Wausau commuters drive alone and 9% carpool. About 1% take public transit, 1% bike and 2% walk. Thirteen percent work from home. Mean commute time is 15.5 minutes.
Waste and recycling
Wausau collected 23,113,260 pounds of trash and 6,217,595 pounds of recycling in 2025, according to the draft. That works out to a recycling rate of about 21%.
That figure is Wausau Pilot & Review’s calculation from the tonnage the city reported. The draft plan does not state a diversion rate, and the city did not respond to a question asking whether it has a target or how it calculates one. It is not clear from the packet whether the reported totals include commercial accounts or whether yard waste and food waste are counted separately — either would change the result.
Trash goes to the Marathon County Landfill under the city’s contract with Harter’s Fox Valley Disposal. Recycling is consolidated in Ringle and hauled to a Republic Services sorting facility in Eagle River. Clean cardboard from commercial routes goes to IROW in Mosinee. Hsu’s Growing Supply offers curbside food waste pickup for composting.
Businesses use most of the energy
Non-residential customers accounted for about 72% of Wausau’s electricity use and 68% of its natural gas use in 2025, according to the Wisconsin Public Service figures in the draft.
That distribution is reflected in the business survey the committee will vote on, which asks employers about group solar purchasing, energy audits, electrification incentives, EV charging and commercial composting.
The city became a SolSmart Silver community in 2025, a national designation recognizing local governments that reduce barriers to solar development. It also partners annually with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association on the Grow Solar Central Wisconsin group buy program.
Outstanding questions
Wausau Pilot & Review submitted written questions to assistant city planner Carrie Edmondson on Aug. 5 asking about the total budgeted cost of the plan, whether the consultant assisting with the surveys is under city contract, whether the city has a recycling rate target, and how the plan reconciles rising vehicle miles with its transportation goals.
Edmondson did not respond by the Aug. 7 deadline.
Committee documents identify Dani Taube of Roaster as having assisted with both survey instruments at the July meeting. The packet does not indicate whether the firm is under contract with the city or what such an agreement would cost.
Errors in the draft
Three errors appear in the draft. The Transportation section directs readers to “Figure 4” for Marathon County vehicle miles data that appears as Figure 6. The Transportation Use in City section directs readers to “Figure 1” for commute data that appears in Figure 2. And the energy burden section contains an incomplete sentence reading that the average burden “for all Wausau residents in year was 3 percent.”
The errors are in the document’s cross-references and wording, not in its underlying figures.
Committee members: Jean Abreu (chair), Carol Lukens, Jesse Kearns, Christine Daniels, Britnie Remer, Lauren Leitner and Paul Kage. Staff support is provided by assistant city planner Carrie Edmondson.
How to participate: Public comment on agenda items is taken at the beginning of the meeting. The full packet is available on the city’s website.
Editor’s note on the solar figure: the 111% comparison is Wausau Pilot & Review’s calculation using two figures published in the city’s own draft plan — the Google Project Sunroof rooftop estimate and Wisconsin Public Service’s reported 2025 consumption. Both appear in the Aug. 13 committee packet.
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