3rd largest plant in Minnesota · 355th nationally
Clay Boswell is a coal power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 923 MW. It generates roughly 5.0M MWh per year — enough to power about 480,201 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 62% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time. At 2254 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
Ghost bars are each month's theoretical maximum (923 MW nameplate × hours in the month). Filled bars are actual net generation reported to EIA Form 923. The gap between them is capacity factor made visible.
| Plant Name | Clay Boswell |
|---|---|
| Operator | Allete, Inc. |
| City | Cohasset |
| County | Itasca County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 55721 |
| Coordinates | 47.26110, -93.65280 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 558 MW | Operating | 1980 |
| 3 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 365 MW | Operating | 1973 |
| 1 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1958 |
| 2 | Conventional Steam Coal | Subbituminous Coal | 75.0 MW | Retired | 1960 |
| D4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 0.8 MW | Standby | 1980 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Allete, Inc. | Duluth, MN | 8000.0% |
| Wppi Energy | Sun Prairie, WI | 2000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| CO₂ | 5.7M metric tons |
|---|---|
| SO₂ | 579 metric tons |
| NOₓ | 2.3k metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 2254 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
Coal plants burn pulverized coal to boil water and spin steam turbines. They emit substantial CO₂, SO₂, and NOₓ along with mercury and particulate matter. Modern units include scrubbers and selective catalytic reduction; older units are increasingly being retired or converted to natural gas as economics shift.