Xcel Energy's Black Dog Power Plant
Burnsville, Minnesota 
(photos: plant by Peterson Aerial Photos; nestbox by Froona)Black Dog is a coal- and gas-fired generating station, located on the Minnesota River at Burnsville just south of the Twin Cities. Black Dog takes its name from the Black Dog band of Sioux - or Dakotah - and their leader Chief Black Dog, who settled an area on the south bank of the Minnesota River around 1750. The settlement was the oldest Mdewakanton tribe in the area. All four original Black Dog units were built in the 1950s, and by 1960 Black Dog was the second largest base load plant in what was then the Northern States Power system, a predecessor to Xcel Energy. In 2002, with the addition of the new combined cycle unit, the plant regained its status as the second largest fossil fueled plant in Xcel Energy’s North region. Black Dog’s coal units generate power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The natural gas combined cycle unit is designed to provide intermediate generation during higher load periods.
webcam link:
http://birdcam.xcelenergy.com/falcon.htmlBlack Dog is located in the Minnesota River Valley, also home to variety of waterfowl and other wildlife. A good vantage point to view migrating waterfowl is along Black Dog Road between Interstate Highway 35W and Cedar Avenue. Xcel Energy owns about 1,500 acres around the Black Dog cooling ponds that it leases to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so it can maintain a preserve. Black Dog Preserve includes rare plant families more than 4,000 years old, along with thousands of waterfowl and songbirds, hawks, squirrels, gophers, chipmunks, foxes, beaver, raccoons, deer and mink.
Resident Pairs & Offspring:
