Power Plants in North Dakota

North Dakota's power-generating fleet held 11.2 GW of nameplate capacity as of May 2026, ranking 39th among the 51 state-level fleets. This is capacity — what the equipment could produce running flat out — not generation: a megawatt of solar and a megawatt of coal appear the same here and produce very different amounts of electricity over a year.

Wind dominates the fleet at 44.4% of capacity across 42 plants, while coal provides 35.9% through just 7 plants. Natural gas accounts for 13.8%, hydro for 5.2%, and other fuels for 0.7%. The largest plant is Coal Creek, a coal-fired station with 1,216 MW in McLean County. Antelope Valley in Mercer County follows at 954 MW on coal, then Pioneer Generation Station in Williams County at 897 MW on natural gas. Milton R Young in Oliver County carries 734 MW on coal, and Leland Olds in Mercer County 656 MW on coal.

The fleet spans nearly nine decades, from Grafton coming online in August 1937 to Badger Wind, LLC entering service in January 2026. The 63 plants tracked include everything down to sub-megawatt backup generators, so the count does not reflect fleet size — capacity is the meaningful measure.