The public power utility that serves Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, was established in 1914, the same year the Prairie du Sac Dam hydroelectric project was completed. The dam’s construction was a rigorous undertaking that required ingenuity in the face of numerous engineering challenges at the time, such as how to handle both the width of the Wisconsin River and the shifting sands in and around the waterway.
| Population | 4,420 |
| Electric customers | 2,210 |
| Utility formed | 1914 |
| Utility employees | 4 |
The dam remains the largest of the more than 20 hydroelectric installations on the 420-mile river. The dam has held strong since opening, surviving over a century of wear, including the acute stress of the 2008 Midwest floods, to continue providing a wealth of renewable energy to surrounding municipalities.
Troy Murphy, Prairie du Sac’s director of public works and a 2025 recipient of the American Public Power Association’s Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award, noted that Prairie du Sac’s electric department was chartered for reasons common for Midwestern towns at the time — to provide reliable, affordable electricity for a growing municipality whose prosperity depended on it.
“Back in 1914, the community’s one privately owned generator was failing to provide the power they needed. So, the village board came together and established a community-owned utility to keep the lights on,” Murphy said.
The public power utility remains a centerpiece of the town’s economy and civic life. It has sustained the community over many decades and is now supporting its rapid growth.
For generations, Murphy’s family managed their farm before Troy and his brothers all grew up to work in the power sector. Murphy worked at a rural electric cooperative before coming to Prairie du Sac’s utility, where he built a career that has spanned nearly three decades so far.
“I landed here in 1997. And once you land in public power, I always say it’s your fault if you leave, because it’s meaningful work — very family- and community-oriented,” he said.
Murphy finds that a close relationship with the community ensures responsiveness and a high quality of service, particularly when coordinated through the support provided by WPPI Energy, a joint action agency serving public power utilities in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan.
“If we’re getting a storm on a July night, every one of us is watching the news wondering how the other member communities are doing. Next thing you know, I’m getting text messages asking me, ‘Are you and your crew set down there? We’re ready to send help,’” Murphy said.
He noted this care for neighbors extends to how the utility engages with the Prairie du Sac community, including its focus on helping people stayed informed about electrical safety.
“We have our energy services reps and line crew take bucket trucks down to the school and teach kids about safety around downed power lines and open transformers,” Murphy said.
Prairie du Sac’s proximity to Wisconsin’s growing capital — the town is just 25 miles northwest of Madison — has drawn a wave of new development the utility has been instrumental in supporting. The town has a wealth of publicly managed amenities, including the nearby Great State Trail and a newly formed daycare, that stand alongside the electric department in advancing the community’s quality of life.
“There’s now a village-owned daycare within the 70-acre Culver Community Park that was recently built and is operated by our school district. People can move here, find affordable housing, and have daycare right across the street. … It’s been one of the main drivers of why we’ve grown 30%–40% in the past decade,” Murphy said.
He noted that another housing development is projected to have 450 new electric meters that will provide the kind of reliable, affordable power Prairie du Sac residents enjoy.
Murphy continues to see Prairie du Sac’s utility providing that same quality of service for years to come, particularly as work begins on a planned downtown renovation project. The upcoming Water Street reconstruction will be launched with support from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and will pave the way for the utility to upgrade the town’s distribution lines in partnership with American Transmission Company.
“We have a $20 million project coming through that will involve a total reconstruction of our downtown streets. With that, we’re completing upgrades to our electric system, including the rebuilding of distribution feeders and undergrounding of power lines. That’s going to offer a lot of redundancy to our high school and downtown area,” Murphy said.
He calls the ability to engage directly with the community he serves and watch how his team’s work advances Prairie du Sac’s quality of life one of the most fulfilling parts of his job.
“That’s the beauty of working in public power — seeing how the improvements you work on day in and day out make your town a better place to live,” he said.
