Rapids Energy Center
Natural gas power plant · Itasca County, Minnesota
Nameplate capacity
28 MW
Rank in Minnesota
#86
of 804 plants
In service since
1943
January 1943
Details
- Primary fuel
- Natural gas
- Technology
- Natural Gas Steam Turbine
- Operator
- ALLETE, Inc.
- County
- Itasca County
- Generating units
- 3
- Share of state capacity
- 0.14%
- Rank among natural gas plants in Minnesota
- #26 of 36
- EIA plant code
- 10686
Generating units
| Unit | Technology | Nameplate | Summer | Online | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 14 MW | 9.5 MW | 1980 | Operating |
| 6 | Natural Gas Steam Turbine | 13 MW | 13 MW | 1969 | Operating |
| HYD | Conventional Hydroelectric | 1.9 MW | 0.8 MW | 1943 | 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
| Community Wind South | Wind | 30 MW |
| Hutchinson Plant #1 | Natural gas | 28 MW |
| Delano | Other | 27 MW |
| Ridgewind | Wind | 25 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 28 MW solar plant and a 28 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