Power plants in North Dakota

North Dakota has 62 power plants of 1 MW or more in the 2025 EIA-860 data, with 11.0 GW of nameplate capacity, the 40th-largest total among the 50 states and DC. Wind accounts for 43% of that capacity. The biggest single site is Coal Creek at 1,216 MW. Units that came online from 2020 to 2025 add 1,954 MW, led by wind at 61%. Units retired since 2016 at plants still operating total 120 MW, most of it coal.

Wind4,729 MW43%
Coal4,023 MW37%
Natural gas1,546 MW14%
Hydroelectric583 MW5.3%
Oil and petroleum66.7 MW0.6%
Other sources14.6 MW0.1%
Biomass and waste9.8 MW0.1%

What is running, by the decade it came online

CoalNatural gasOil and petroleumHydroelectricWindBiomass and wasteOther sources

Columns above the line show capacity still operating in 2025, stacked by fuel. Below the line: capacity retired in each decade at plants that still operate.

The 25 largest plants

Rank	Plant	Runs on	Capacity	First unit	Operator
1	Coal Creek	Coal	1,216 MW	1979	Rainbow Energy Center
2	Antelope Valley	Coal	954 MW	1984	Basin Electric Power Coop
3	Pioneer Generation Station	Natural gas	897 MW	2013	Basin Electric Power Coop
4	Milton R Young	Coal	734 MW	1970	Minnkota Power Coop, Inc
5	Leland Olds	Coal	656 MW	1966	Basin Electric Power Coop
6	Garrison	Hydroelectric	583 MW	1956	USACE-Omaha
7	Coyote	Coal	450 MW	1981	Otter Tail Power Co
8	Lonesome Creek Station	Natural gas	363 MW	2013	Basin Electric Power Coop
9	Aurora Wind Project	Wind	299 MW	2021	Aurora Wind Project, LLC
10	Bison 4 Wind Energy Center	Wind	205 MW	2015	ALLETE, Inc.
11	Bowman Wind	Wind	200 MW	2025	Bowman Wind, LLC
12	Courtenay Wind Farm	Wind	200 MW	2016	Northern States Power Co - Minnesota
13	Emmons-Logan Wind, LLC	Wind	200 MW	2019	Emmons-Logan Wind, LLC
14	Burke Wind, LLC	Wind	199 MW	2020	Burke Wind LLC
15	Oliver Wind IV	Wind	199 MW	2024	Oliver Wind IV, LLC
16	Tatanka Wind Power LLC	Wind	180 MW	2008	Acciona Wind Energy USA LLC
17	R M Heskett	Natural gas	178 MW	2014	Montana-Dakota Utilities Co
18	Thunder Spirit Wind, LLC	Wind	156 MW	2015	Montana-Dakota Utilities Co
19	Border Winds Wind Farm	Wind	150 MW	2015	Northern States Power Co - Minnesota
20	Brady II Wind Energy Center	Wind	150 MW	2016	Brady Wind II, LLC
21	Brady Wind Energy Center	Wind	150 MW	2016	Brady Wind, LLC
22	Foxtail Wind, LLC	Wind	150 MW	2020	Foxtail Wind, LLC
23	Lindahl Wind Project, LLC	Wind	150 MW	2017	Lindahl Wind Project LLC
24	Merricourt Wind Energy Center	Wind	150 MW	2020	Otter Tail Power Co
25	Rugby Wind Power Project	Wind	149 MW	2009	Avangrid Power LLC

All 62 plants in the finder

Largest plant for each main fuel

Main fuel	Plants	Capacity	Largest plant	Its capacity
Wind	41	4,729 MW	Aurora Wind Project	299 MW
Coal	7	4,029 MW	Coal Creek	1,216 MW
Natural gas	5	1,547 MW	Pioneer Generation Station	897 MW
Hydroelectric	1	583 MW	Garrison	583 MW
Oil and petroleum	5	59.7 MW	Jamestown	48.2 MW
Other sources	2	14.6 MW	Tesoro Mandan Cogeneration Plant	9.3 MW
Biomass and waste	1	9.8 MW	Enderlin	9.8 MW

Balancing areas

Area	Plants	Capacity
MISO (Midcontinent)	46	5,939 MW
Southwest Power Pool	15	4,930 MW
WAPA Rocky Mountain	1	104 MW

Biggest operators here

Operator	Plants	Capacity
Basin Electric Power Coop	6	2,990 MW
Rainbow Energy Center	1	1,216 MW
Otter Tail Power Co	7	849 MW
Minnkota Power Coop, Inc	1	734 MW
USACE-Omaha	1	583 MW
ALLETE, Inc.	4	497 MW
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co	4	359 MW
Northern States Power Co - Minnesota	2	350 MW
Aurora Wind Project, LLC	1	299 MW
Bowman Wind, LLC	1	200 MW