BISON I WIND ENERGY CENTER
OperatingWind power plant
- Capacity
- 80 MW
- Primary fuel
- Wind
- County
- Morton County
- Operator
- MINNESOTA POWER INC
- Status
- Operating
- Commissioned
- 2010
- EIA plant ID
- 57038
- Generators
- 2
- Technology
- Onshore Wind Turbine
- Net generation (2024)
- 166 GWh
- Capacity factor (2024, EIA nameplate)
- 23%
- Data vintage
- EIA-860 2024 final; EIA-923 2022-2024 final
- Coordinates
- 46.9799, -101.5538
BISON I WIND ENERGY CENTER, an 80 MW Wind power plant in Morton County, North Dakota. Operated by MINNESOTA POWER INC, commissioned 2010.
How BISON I WIND ENERGY CENTER compares
With 80 MW of capacity, BISON I WIND ENERGY CENTER ranks 17th among the 40 operating power plants Bywatts maps in North Dakota and 10th of the 21 operating Wind plants in the state. It accounts for about 4.6% of North Dakota's operating Wind capacity and 1.2% of all operating capacity in the state. Nationally it is the 314th-largest of the 708 operating Wind plants in the database. Commissioned in 2010, it is newer than 75% of the 40 operating North Dakota plants with a recorded commissioning year. Its operator, MINNESOTA POWER INC, runs 3 operating plants in North Dakota totaling 290 MW. It shares Morton County with 5 other operating plants, including R M HESKETT and BISON 2 WIND ENERGY CENTER.
EIA-860 lists 2 generators at the site with 82 MW of nameplate capacity, all onshore wind turbine technology. Net generation was 166 GWh in 2024 (a 23% capacity factor), down 25% from 2022. Its generators came online between 2010 and 2012.
Grid neighborhood
The closest transmission line found within 10 miles is a 230 kV line, about 0.1 miles away. Another 8 operating power plants totaling 2,368 MW sit within 25 miles; the largest is ANTELOPE VALLEY (870 MW, Coal).
Computed by Bywatts from HIFLD power plant and transmission line records and EIA-860/923 survey data; distances are straight-line. Sources and methodology
Weather peril exposure
BISON I WIND ENERGY CENTER is an 80 MW wind power plant in Morton County, ND, operated by MINNESOTA POWER INC, commissioned in 2010. Morton County carries critical modeled catastrophe exposure in the FEMA National Risk Index, scoring 5.0 of 5 at the 99th national percentile. Hail is the leading peril, rated Relatively High by FEMA at the 99th percentile.
The Bywatts loss layer is calibrated to solar PV hardware, so it is not applied to a wind plant. The ratings below are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings for this location.
Morton County hazard ratings
| Peril | FEMA rating | National percentile | Peril score | Events per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively High | 99th | 5.0 of 5 | 2.6 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 99th | 4.9 of 5 | 19.5 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 91st | 4.6 of 5 | 0.88 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 79th | 4.1 of 5 | 2.0 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 67th | 3.7 of 5 | <0.01 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 66th | 3.6 of 5 | 1.7 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 53rd | 3.1 of 5 | 0.55 |
| Riverine flooding | Relatively Low | 50th | 3.0 of 5 | 0.68 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 30th | 2.2 of 5 | 31.2 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 4th | 1.2 of 5 | <0.01 |
Perils not assessed in Morton County
These perils carry no usable National Risk Index figure for this county, so they are excluded from the scoring rather than scored zero. A zero would claim the peril was assessed and found benign.
| Peril | Why it is not scored |
|---|---|
| Hurricane | FEMA rating is "Not Applicable" for this county |
| Coastal flooding | FEMA rating is "Not Applicable" for this county |
Model hail, wind and flood exposure for Morton County in the weather risk calculator
Ratings are the FEMA National Risk Index county hazard ratings; the peril score is a Bywatts transform of the FEMA national percentile. Full data sources and the solar vulnerability methodology are in the weather risk calculator.
Modeled estimate for screening and negotiation. Built from FEMA National Risk Index county hazard data and a solar vulnerability layer documented above. Not a quote, a binder, or actuarial advice, and not a substitute for a carrier's own model. Hazard data: FEMA National Risk Index December 2025, synced 2026-07-24. Resolution is county level, not site level.