In the fall of 1882, the quiet city of Appleton made headlines. As evening fell on the banks of the Fox River, the world’s first hydroelectric power plant flickered to life, lighting the Hearthstone House, a local paper mill and a shoemaker’s shop.
Known as the Vulcan Street Plant, the Edison Company used the river’s steady current to spin a waterwheel connected to a dynamo — converting the force of flowing water into usable power. As water coursed through wooden turbines, electricity powered an entire neighborhood.
“The electric light is perfectly safe and convenient and is destined to be the great illuminating agent of the near future,” the Appleton Post said in its Oct. 5, 1882, issue.
This moment on the Fox River launched more than a new kind of light: It sparked a relationship between Wisconsin’s waterways and its future energy. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, hydropower’s promise lies in turning natural motion into a mechanical force. As flowing water spins turbines, it generates clean, renewable electricity.
Despite its simplicity, the use of hydropower has sparked ongoing ecological discussions among researchers, students and policymakers in Wisconsin.
Hydropower converts the kinetic energy of water flowing downstream into electricity using turbines and generators. Powered by the natural water cycle, it supplies energy to homes, businesses and industries without depleting fossil fuels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
For Yiying Xiong, associate director of UW–Madison’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, her passion for hydropower began far from Wisconsin.
Born along the Yangtze River in China’s Chongqing municipality, Xiong grew up witnessing the devastating effects of seasonal flooding. From 1994 to 2006, the Three Gorges Dam — the largest hydroelectricity dam in the world — was built along this river near Xiong’s hometown. Upon the dam’s competition, she was thrilled.
“I was actually excited [for the reservoir] along with the people in my hometown because we knew it would help solve a lot of the flooding issues along with the benefits of electricity generation,” Xiong says.
After moving to the United States and completing her graduate study, Xiong began her career in hydropower consulting and has since worked on projects in more than 20 countries, focusing on dam safety, development and integration into energy systems.
As the advisor to UW-Madison’s WaterPower Club, Xiong helps students explore hands-on hydropower projects, attend industry events and connect with professionals in the field.
She was invited to start this club by the Hydropower Foundation, a coalition working to expand hydropower’s benefits for society and the environment. After assisting in the launch of the organization in fall 2024, Xiong says the effort has helped fill a gap on campus by creating a space for students to explore a field with few existing pathways.
Genevieve Eck, president of the WaterPower Club, says the group is “a gateway to professional development and hydropower through direct education and hands-on experience.”
The goal of the club is to cultivate members’ interests and skills in hydropower, helping them explore their goals and gradually build participation in competitions and science-related events, Eck says. It organizes tours of local dams, hosts networking events with energy professionals and leads technical workshops to give students a close look at the hydropower industry.
“It connects anyone who has an interest in hydropower — anyone who has an interest in renewable energy,” Eck says. “And not only does it kind of bring engineers and people in policy and renewable energy together, but also business and administration … just any other area that involves hands-on leadership.”
Power in practice
Connecting student initiatives with real-world hydropower applications reflects the broader work of experts like Xiong in managing energy generated by Wisconsin’s waterways.
“Climate change hasn’t really impacted a lot on our energy generation from hydropower.”
Wisconsin is unique when it comes to generating renewable energy, Xiong says. The state’s rivers are abundant and stable, providing a resource that is less vulnerable to climate-related fluctuations as seen in other regions.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin has more than 15,000 lakes and 84,000 miles of rivers and streams, making water a powerful resource across the state.
“Even though there are changes in the climate in pockets of the region, our region is diverse enough and our resources abundant enough that climate change hasn’t really impacted a lot on our energy generation from hydropower,” Xiong says.
That reliability gives Wisconsin an advantage as the energy grid grows more dependent on renewables like wind and solar — sources that are powerful but intermittent, Xiong says.
Xiong explains that hydropower increases electricity production during periods of high demand, for example, in the evenings when households are cooking or running appliances. Hydropower then has the ability to scale back when other energy sources are abundant.
Unlike other renewable energy sources, hydropower can restart the grid after a total power outage, a process known as a “black start,” Xiong says.
Beyond its role in stabilizing the grid, hydropower’s versatility extends far beyond electricity. Xiong says the same systems that generate energy can also support communities and ecosystems in meaningful ways, helping the management of water resources, sustain habitats and protect against flooding.
“Hydropower provides many different benefits beyond generation,” Xiong says. “It provides benefits for fish, for environmental purposes, for water irrigation and for flood control.”
Not all experts see hydropower as purely beneficial. Ellen Voss, climate resilience director of the River Alliance of Wisconsin, emphasizes the environmental trade-offs that are often overlooked.
Even small hydro facilities can significantly alter flow patterns, strand fish and other aquatic organisms, or change sediment and nutrient transport, Voss says.
“As long as there’s water in the river, you could potentially have the capacity to produce power from it,” Voss says. “But it’s not clean. When you think about all the environmental impacts cumulatively … it comes at a huge cost.”
Voss also highlights the hidden costs of hydropeaking — a flexible operating schedule that allows facilities to meet the needs of peak electricity demands. She says it is highly ecologically destructive because of the rapid and frequent changes in discharge.
“Imagine if you’re like a fish in the stream … and then suddenly the water level drops,” Voss says. “River life is just not equipped to deal with really rapid fluctuations in flow and quantity.”
Her work focuses on mitigating these impacts through relicensing, environmental monitoring and community engagement — finding ways to balance energy production with ecosystem health.
Ultimately, Voss underscores the importance of transparency and public awareness.
“For me, mitigations and reform mean having the lowest impact possible [on river ecosystems],” Voss says. “And again, I’m not naive here. I know that in a perfect world we wouldn’t have to be relying on rivers.”
The environmental consequences of dams, fluctuations in water flow and hydropower’s aging infrastructure are often overlooked, but Voss and her team are working to find a balance that serves both energy needs and the needs of these ecosystems.
The next wave
Xiong hopes hydropower will become more common across Wisconsin and contribute largely to the future of renewable energy. She believes that the increase of hydroelectric power has the ability to strengthen the state’s energy systems, but ultimately this will depend on decisions made by state and federal leaders.
Voss expects hydropower to stay relevant in Wisconsin’s energy mix but argues that reform is crucial. This includes evaluating if older, low-output dams are worth maintaining and monitoring environmental impacts to guide future decisions.
State Rep. Angelito Tenorio, a Democrat who represents Assembly District 14, believes policy is an integral part of how renewable energy is maintained throughout Wisconsin. For Tenorio, combating climate change and protecting the environment are not abstract goals. Instead they are local priorities shaped by the realities communities face.
In his district — which covers part of West Allis, Milwaukee and Wauwatosa — the effects of a changing climate and the need for renewable energy sources have become impossible to ignore.
“This past summer in my district … we were completely underwater during the devastating August floods,” Tenorio says. “We had terrible air quality from pollution and the wildfires in Canada, and we had extreme heat affecting us as well. On top of that, we had our energy bills go up and insurance rates go up, all impacted by the effects of climate change here.”
According to Tenorio, confronting these issues is at the top of the priority list for his neighbors and constituents. He believes that Wisconsin must move toward 100% renewable energy by 2050, emphasizing that investments should be made to move away from the use of fossil fuels. That means building out infrastructure, reforming permitting processes and creating opportunities for new green jobs that strengthen local economies.
He believes that environmental policy and community are deeply connected, and most Wisconsinites want the same things: security, opportunity and a clean, livable environment. Effective climate action begins with listening to those most affected — like working families, low-income residents and communities of color — and taking collective action, he says.
“I truly believe that the people closest to the issues are the people closest to the solutions.”
Tenorio says. “So making sure that when we enact policy and introduce and draft legislation, [we are] really including the voices of people who are on the ground — especially folks who’ve been pushed to the margins.
In the coming decade, many of Wisconsin’s hydropower facilities will undergo relicensing, requiring negotiations with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Xiong says. These discussions could open the door for updated operating rules, allowing hydropower to provide even greater benefits to Wisconsin communities and the broader energy system.
As Wisconsin decides to retire old coal plants and expand wind and solar, the energy mix becomes more dynamic, Xiong says.
While most of the nation’s dams currently do not generate electricity, many of these structures already have basic infrastructure in place that could be converted to produce hydroelectric power, Xiong says. The combination of consistency, flexibility and longevity provided by hydropower in Wisconsin sets it apart from other renewable energy sources.
For Xiong, Wisconsin’s rivers and lakes are more than infrastructure. Instead, they are a resource with potential.
With a significant portion of the state’s hydro potential still untapped, this resource serves as an option for the future of reducing carbon emissions.
Voss says it is important to balance energy production with the protection of Wisconsin’s river ecosystems. As water flows and turbines spin, this reflects the balance between harnessing nature and preserving it.
Feature photo: The Angelo Dam power plant is located on the La Crosse River near the city of Sparta. By Yiying Xiong