BLACK DOG

How BLACK DOG compares

With 602 MW of capacity, BLACK DOG ranks 6th among the 215 operating power plants Bywatts maps in Minnesota and 3rd of the 14 operating Coal plants in the state. It accounts for about 12% of Minnesota's operating Coal capacity and 3.7% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 148th-largest of the 324 operating Coal plants in the database. Commissioned in 1954, it is older than 81% of the 200 operating Minnesota plants with a recorded commissioning year. Its operator, XCEL ENERGY, runs 14 operating plants in Minnesota totaling 7,978 MW. It shares Dakota County with 6 other operating plants, including INVER HILLS and THOMSON REUTERS CAMPUS BLDG A-D.

Under the same EIA plant code, EIA-860 lists 3 generators at the site with 563 MW of nameplate capacity. Net generation was 2,310 GWh in 2024 (a 47% capacity factor), about 3 times its 2022 output. Its generators came online between 1954 and 2018.

Grid neighborhood

The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 115 kV line owned by NORTHERN STATES POWER CO - MINNESOTA, under 0.1 miles away. Another 21 operating power plants totaling 2,618 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is HIGH BRIDGE (644 MW, Natural Gas). Within 50 miles are 2 mapped data centers; the nearest is Cologix MIN1 in Minneapolis, about 11.1 miles away.

Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records, EIA-860/923 survey data and PeeringDB data center locations; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology