Fact sheet - Big Stone II at a glance

Working together to meet future energy needs

Big Stone II will be a highly-efficient power plant, approximately 500 to 580 megawatts, built on the Big Stone Plant site to take advantage of employee experience, railway access and existing infrastructure including coal handling facilities, ash-handling facilities, and water-pumping equipment.
Big Stone Transmission will improve the reliability of the regional transmission grid for all customers. One of these lines will be “super-sized” to carry 800 to 1,000 megawatts of additional generation, most likely wind energy, when combined with other transmission projects planned for the region.

The region’s electrical consumption is growing and expected to increase more than 15% over the next decade.
The increase in demand has caused the regional electric generation reserve capacity to steadily decline. The regional power pool projects that, without Big Stone II generation capacity, reserves will all below the minimum level by 2011. Regional power pool forecasts show looming electric generation capacity deficits as large as 2,400 megawatts as soon as 2014 without additions such as Big Stone II.
The last significant baseload power plant in this region was constructed in the mid-1980s. If Big Stone II is online by 2013 as planned, it will provide only a fraction of the energy needed to keep the lights on in our region. Renewable resources will also be critical in meeting the projected need.

Big Stone II would help reduce our nation’s dependence on imported energy and our region’s dependence on natural gas.
Big Stone II will use highly efficient, commercially proven technology that is 20% more fuel efficient per unit of electric output than the existing fleet of coal-fired plants. Consequently, Big Stone II will have 20% lower carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, the owners have committed to offsetting 100% of Big Stone II’s carbon emissions attributable to Minnesota customers.
Both the existing plant and Big Stone II will be equipped with technology most likely to remove 90% of their mercury emissions.
Big Stone II will more than double the site's generation capacity while emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury from the two plants will be less than or equal to historical emissions from the existing Big Stone Plant — partly the result of a decision by the participants to voluntarily install a single, highly advanced wet scrubber that will serve both plants.

Two-part project that would increase baseload power generation and transmission
Presently in the permitting phase, including public input process, through 2008
Construction begins (pending approval): mid-2009
Generating power commercially available: 2013
Projected cost: generation project, $1.6 billion; transmission project, up to $265 million
Would be the largest investment of public and private capital made in South Dakota
Local economic impact of $675 million during four-year construction process
During construction, plant would employ an average of 625 construction workers, with a peak workforce of 1,500
Would require an estimated 35 to 40 employees to operate the new plant, beginning in 2013. Thirty-five new power plant jobs are estimated to create another 28 jobs throughout the economy with an associated $2.5 million payroll (2004 wage levels).

For more information, contact:
Dan Sharp, Manager, Communications . 701-426-3650
Steve Schultz, Manager, External Affairs . 218-770-9111