Owatonna Energy Station
Natural gas power plant · Steele County, Minnesota
Nameplate capacity
39 MW
Rank in Minnesota
#78
of 804 plants
In service since
2018
March 2018
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine
- Operator
- Southern Minnesota Mun P Agny
- County
- Steele County
- Generating units
- 4
- Share of state capacity
- 0.20%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Minnesota
- #23 of 36
- EIA plant code
- 60254
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNIT1 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | 9.7 MW | 9.7 MW | 2018 | Operating |
| UNIT2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | 9.7 MW | 9.7 MW | 2018 | Operating |
| UNIT3 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | 9.7 MW | 9.7 MW | 2018 | Operating |
| UNIT4 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | 9.7 MW | 9.7 MW | 2018 | Operating |
Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.
Similarly sized plants in Minnesota
| Glencoe | Other | 40 MW |
| Fairmont (MN) | Natural gas | 39 MW |
| St Paul Cogeneration | Other | 37 MW |
| Big Blue | Wind | 36 MW |
About this data
From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 39 MW solar plant and a 39 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.
“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Minnesota power plants · What Minnesota actually generates