Black Dog power plant moving off coal toward cleaner energy
On April 8, the last shipment of coal was delivered to Xcel Energy’s Black Dog power plant in Burnsville, marking the end of the facility’s 60-year history of producing electricity from coal. Instead, once the coal units are replaced with a natural gas combustion turbine, all of the electricity produced at Black Dog will come from more efficient, cleaner natural gas, reducing the carbon-dioxide emissions from that plant by more than 690,000 tons a year, or the equivalent of taking 132,000 automobiles off of the road.
The end of coal operations at Black Dog is a significant marker because it reflects our state’s common interest in pursuing progressive yet sensible ways of improving the environment. It’s also one piece of a broader strategy for achieving the kind of energy future Minnesotans want and need.
