North Dakota’s Largest Coal Plant Could Power Data Centers, Industrial Complex

County commissioners in North Dakota have signed off on a rezoning request from a local energy provider, a move that means a large coal-fired power plant could be used to supply electricity to a new industrial park.

The McLean County Commission recently approved the reclassification of about 800 acres near Rainbow Energy Center’s 1,151-MW Coal Creek Station. The land, previously zoned as agricultural and formerly owned by a mining company that supplies coal for the power plant, can now be considered for commercial use. Bismarck-headquartered Rainbow Energy has said its plans for the area include construction of new data centers that would source power from Coal Creek. Falkirk Mining had owned the land, although it has not been mined.

Rainbow Energy, unlike utilities with residential ratepayers, is an independent power producer that sells electricity to commercial enterprises or public utilities.

Coal Creek is North Dakota’s largest coal-fired power plant. Then-owner Great River Energy a few years ago considered closing the facility due to what were called “serious financial problems,” with Great River announcing it would shutter the plant in 2022. Rainbow Energy, though, agreed to buy the plant, and said it would retrofit the station with carbon capture technology, in addition to developing a wind farm at the site. Plans for the wind farm were put on hold last year due to local opposition.

The Coal Creek plant, with two units that came online in 1979 and 1980, respectively, has sent electricity to Minnesota for many years. Rainbow Energy’s purchase in 2022 included the 436-mile-long Nexus transmission line, which runs between McLean County and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in Minnesota.

Tax Breaks for Coal

Rainbow Energy executives earlier this year reportedly sought tax breaks from North Dakota lawmakers for the coal-fired plant. The state’s government has expressed support for the facility, particularly since it could power data centers and other industrial investments. Officials have said data centers would provide a reliable customer for electricity from the Coal Creek plant, which Rainbow wants to run at full capacity.

Great River has continued to receive power from Rainbow Energy, though its contract called for a decrease in the purchase of coal-fired power to just 350 MW this year. Officials said Great River had a goal of exiting coal by 2031, in part due to the expectation of an operating wind farm at the Coal Creek site.

Rainbow Energy also has said it is considering natural gas-fired generation as part of its plans for the industrial park. The company has an agreement to source gas from Intensity Infrastructure Partners, a midstream infrastructure firm headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That group is one of two companies that have asked the state government for financial help to build a natural gas pipeline in the state. North Dakota has an abundant supply of natural gas from the Bakken Shale, located in the state’s Williston Basin.

North Dakota, as one of the leading producers of natural gas, is among states that energy analysts have said could support more gas-fired power plants to serve increasing demand for electricity from data centers and other industrial enterprises. Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently proposed construction of a two-unit, 1,490-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Epping, in Williams County in northwest North Dakota. The company provides power to smaller electric co-ops.

Basin, which discussed the plant with state officials during a June 30 meeting, said the $4-billion Bison Generation Station would be the state’s first combined-cycle power plant. Basin said construction could begin later this year, pending approval from the state Public Service Commission, and could enter commercial operation in 2030.

—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.