# Outagamie County, Wisconsin: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Appleton, Grand Chute and Kaukauna Outagamie County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Outagamie County is home to most of Appleton (63,246 of its 75,452 residents), Grand Chute, Kaukauna and Greenville. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “One-year data center moratorium (10,000 sq ft+)”. 6 MW has retired here since 2019, including Outagamie County Co-Generation Facility (other technologies, 6 MW, 2020). Its power plants have 838 MW of capacity, 97% of it natural gas, the 9th largest fleet in Wisconsin. Electrical contractors employ 1,321, up 1.9% since 2019 against up 21.6% statewide, at an average $82,768 a year. 6 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 838 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas +1.9% electrical contractor jobs since 2019, now 1,321 ## Cities and towns in Outagamie County Outagamie County is home to most of Appleton (63,246 of its 75,452 residents), Grand Chute, Kaukauna and Greenville. Appleton63,246 residents · 84% of the city Grand Chute24,579 residents Kaukauna18,517 residents Greenville13,388 residents Little Chute11,800 residents Kimberly7,556 residents Buchanan6,793 residents Freedom6,354 residents Oneida4,568 residents Center3,706 residents Seymour3,628 residents Combined Locks3,626 residents Hortonville3,340 residents Ellington3,307 residents Dale2,902 residents New London1,831 residents · 24% of the city Vandenbroek1,701 residents Black Creek1,335 residents Osborn1,229 residents Bovina1,190 residents Hortonia1,040 residents Cicero1,013 residents Wrightstown965 residents · 23% of the city Shiocton935 residents And 6 smaller places. - Appleton also extends into [Calumet County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/calumet-county), [Winnebago County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/winnebago-county). - New London also extends into [Waupaca County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/waupaca-county). - Wrightstown also extends into [Brown County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/brown-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Dale. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Outagamie County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Wisconsin | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 190,959 | 195,894 | ▲ 2.6% | 6th of 72 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 108,934 | 108,523 | ▼ 0.4% | 36th of 72 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $49,567 | $64,568 | ▲ 30.3% | — | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 1,297 | 1,321 | ▲ 1.9% | — | | Power line construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 222 | 481 | ▲ 116.7% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 2.8% | 3.1% | ▲ 0.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 6 MW | | — | Wisconsin Electric Power Co is the largest utility serving Outagamie County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 19.23¢/kWh in 2024, above the 13.25¢ median for Wisconsin utilities. Employers here counted 108,523 jobs in 2025, down 0.4% from 2019. Unemployment was 3.1% in August 2026, against 2.8% in 2019. 195,894 people live here, up 2.6% since 2020, 6th of 72 Wisconsin counties by population. ## Who powers Outagamie County ### Utilities with service territory in Outagamie County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Wisconsin Electric Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,048,148 | 19.23¢ | 38% | | Wisconsin Public Service Corp | Investor Owned | Bundled | 411,775 | 16.23¢ | 38% | | City of Kaukauna | Municipal | Bundled | 14,543 | 12.53¢ | 22% | | New London Electric&Water Util | Municipal | Bundled | 3,501 | 12.29¢ | 19% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 808 MW | 97% | | Hydro | 29 MW | 3% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Fox Energy Center | Wisconsin Public Service Corp | Natural gas | 619 MW | 2005 | | Combined Locks Energy Center | McKinley Paper | Natural gas | 66 MW | 2002 | | Island Street Peaking Plant | WPPI Energy | Natural gas | 60 MW | 2004 | | Kaukauna Paper Mill | Thilmany LLC | Natural gas | 45 MW | 1951 | | Kaukauna Gas Turbine | City of Kaukauna (WI) | Natural gas | 18 MW | 1969 | | New Badger | City of Kaukauna (WI) | Hydro | 8 MW | 2014 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Outagamie County Co-Generation Facility | Other technologies | 6 MW | 2020 | ## The Outagamie County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 108,523 | $64,568 | 1.00 | | Electrical contractors | 1,321 | $82,768 | 1.69 | | Power and communication line construction | 481 | $136,382 | 2.74 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Outagamie County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | One-year data center moratorium (10,000 sq ft+) | In force | 2026-07 | ## Outagamie County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Outagamie County, Brown County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Outagamie County | 195,894 | ▼ 0.4% | 838 MW | — | — | 1 | | Brown County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/brown-county) | 275,803 | ▲ 1.1% | 352 MW | — | 3 | 2 | | Calumet County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/calumet-county) | 53,982 | ▲ 11.5% | — | — | 2 | 1 | | Shawano County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/shawano-county) | 41,560 | ▼ 3.1% | 8 MW | — | — | 2 | | Waupaca County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/waupaca-county) | 51,461 | ▼ 4.9% | — | — | — | — | | Winnebago County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/winnebago-county) | 174,218 | ▲ 0.4% | 378 MW | — | — | 1 | ## More of Wisconsin [All Wisconsin countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin)[Brown County275,803 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/brown-county)[Winnebago County174,218 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/winnebago-county)[Calumet County53,982 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/calumet-county)[Waupaca County51,461 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/waupaca-county)[Shawano County41,560 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/shawano-county) ## Outagamie County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Outagamie County, Wisconsin? 4 utilities have service territory in Outagamie County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Wisconsin Electric Power Co, Wisconsin Public Service Corp, City of Kaukauna, New London Electric&Water Util. The largest, Wisconsin Electric Power Co, charged residential customers 19.23¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Appleton, WI in? Most of Appleton is in Outagamie County: 63,246 of its 75,452 residents, or 84%. The rest of the city lies in Calumet County, Winnebago County. ### What county is Grand Chute, WI in? Grand Chute is in Outagamie County, Wisconsin. About 24,579 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What county is Kaukauna, WI in? Kaukauna is in Outagamie County, Wisconsin. About 18,517 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What power plants are in Outagamie County? 12 operating plants with 838 MW of capacity. The largest is Fox Energy Center (619 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Outagamie County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Outagamie County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Brown County. ### Is Outagamie County adding jobs? Employers counted 108,523 jobs in 2025 against 108,934 in 2019 (-0.4%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Outagamie County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Outagamie County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/wisconsin/outagamie-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).