The Pillsbury A-Mill, completed in 1881 on the east bank of the Mississippi River, was once the largest flour mill in the world and a symbol of Minneapolis’s dominance in global grain production. Designed by architect LeRoy Buffington and engineer William de la Barre, the mill harnessed the power of St. Anthony Falls to grind over 5,000 barrels of flour a day at its peak. Its innovative use of water turbines, reinforced limestone walls, and massive storage elevators represented the cutting edge of 19th-century milling technology. Today, the restored complex — now repurposed as artist lofts — stands as a National Historic Landmark and a reminder of the city’s industrial ingenuity.

Perched along a bend of the Mississippi River north of downtown Red Wing, the historic Northern States Power (NSP) steam plant stands out with its twin rust-colored smokestacks and the familiar “NSP” lettering still mounted between them. Built in the mid-20th century as a coal-fired generating station, the facility once fed electricity into the regional grid and played a key role in the expansion of Northern States Power’s service territory across southeastern Minnesota.

The long enclosed conveyor stretching from the riverfront marks where coal deliveries once arrived by barge, a reminder of how closely the plant’s operations were tied to the Mississippi’s working waterfront. Although the plant has been retired for years, the structure remains an important industrial landmark—visible from Memorial Park high above the river—and sits near the broader Prairie Island energy complex that includes transmission infrastructure and the nearby nuclear generating station. Surrounded by forested riverbanks and the bluffs that define Red Wing’s geography, the site reflects a layered history of energy production, transportation, and landscape along this stretch of the Upper Mississippi.

The large yellow “NSP” letters seen here belong to the historic Northern States Power Company generating station in Red Wing, Minnesota. Perched along the Mississippi River just north of downtown, the plant was once a key part of the regional electrical grid operated by NSP—now Xcel Energy. Although much of the facility has been retired or repurposed, the tall brick stacks and the weathered rooftop lettering remain some of the most recognizable industrial features on Red Wing’s riverfront.

Built in the mid-20th century, the station reflects an era when coal-fired plants lined major waterways to take advantage of cooling capacity and barge-delivered fuel. The surrounding corridor, including the nearby railway and grain terminals, has long formed one of Red Wing’s primary industrial zones. Today, while the plant no longer plays the role it once did, the NSP letters survive as a visual marker of the city’s energy-production past.

The twin concrete containment domes pictured here belong to the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, located along the Mississippi River just northwest of Red Wing, Minnesota. Operated by Xcel Energy, the facility houses two pressurized-water reactors that began commercial operation in the early 1970s. The domed structures serve as reinforced containment buildings, designed to house the reactor vessels and critical safety systems.

Set against the river and surrounded by dense tree cover, the plant sits adjacent to the Prairie Island Indian Community, whose proximity has been central to public discussions about nuclear safety, spent-fuel storage, and long-term energy planning in Minnesota. The low evening light in this image highlights the muted textures of the domes and the teal-panel cladding of the turbine and support buildings, offering a clear view of one of the state’s most prominent pieces of energy infrastructure.

Boaters on the Mississippi River driving towards the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. Treasure Island Resort & Casino, which is just past the plant, lit off it's annual 4th of July fireworks at dusk.

The smokestacks of the Hibbing power plant rise sharply against a clear blue sky, their weathered surfaces bearing the marks of decades of use. Long a fixture of Minnesota’s Iron Range, the plant stands as both an emblem of the region’s industrial heritage and a symbol of its ongoing dependence on traditional energy infrastructure. From steel and mining operations to the homes and businesses that rely on its output, the facility plays a central role in the community, even as debates about the future of energy, environmental impacts, and economic transition continue to surround Hibbing and the broader Range.

Steam billows from the Fox Energy Center near Kaukauna, Wisconsin, a natural gas-fired power plant that supplies electricity to the region. Operated by Wisconsin Public Service, the facility plays a key role in balancing renewable sources with reliable baseload generation across the state’s power grid.

The Kaukauna City Hydro Plant, operated by Kaukauna Utilities in Wisconsin, stands along the Fox River as part of the city’s long history of generating hydroelectric power. The facility provides renewable energy to the community while maintaining caution around fluctuating water levels.

Entergy Corp’s natural gas-fired unit at the Ninemile power plant in Westwego. The 560-megawatt unit (known as Ninemile 6) went online in December of 2014 after a construction cost of $655 million.

J. P. Pulliam Generating Station was an electrical power station powered by sub-bituminous coal, which could also be substituted by natural gas. It was located in Green Bay, Wisconsin in Brown County. The plant was named after the former Wisconsin Public Service Corporation president John Page Pulliam (–June 15, 1951). The plant units were connected to the power grid via 138 kV and 69 kV transmission lines. The remaining coal units on site were decommissioned in 2018 leaving only the natural gas fired P31 unit active at the site.

Freight cars sit on rail tracks near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, with the University of Minnesota campus in the background. The Southeast Steam Plant and its red exhaust stacks rise behind the trains, and the Washington Avenue Bridge crosses the river farther upstream. The scene highlights the mix of industry, infrastructure, and campus development along the riverfront.

The University of Minnesota’s Southeast Steam Plant sits along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, supplying heat and power to the campus and nearby medical facilities. Its red-brick structures and tall orange exhaust stacks stand below the university’s historic engineering buildings.

The Southeast Steam Plant, with its four iconic smokestacks, rises over the Mississippi River near the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. Once a coal-fired power station, the facility has been adapted into a cleaner-burning natural gas plant, continuing its role as a landmark in Minneapolis’s industrial skyline.

The Knife Falls Dam in Cloquet, MN. The hydro plant produces an output of 2.4-megawatts.

Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder, Minnesota

Located in Kewaunee, Wiscomnsin, the plant is in the middle of a 50 year decomissioning process.

The Kewaunee Power Station is a decommissioned nuclear power plant, located on a 900 acres (360 ha) plot in the town of Carlton, Wisconsin, 27 miles (43 km) southeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin in Kewaunee County, and south of the city of Kewaunee.

KPS was the fourth nuclear power plant built in Wisconsin, and the 44th built in the United States. Due to falling electricity prices resulting from the falling price of natural gas, the plant ceased operation May 7, 2013.

Man working on a water tank for the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center.

Windmills found deep in Costa Rica Guanacaste province.

A 118-meter-tall cooling tower stands amid overgrown trees at the former Monceau-sur-Sambre power station near Charleroi, Belgium. Constructed in the 1960s as part of a large coal-fired generating complex operated by Electrabel, the hyperboloid structure was engineered from reinforced concrete with vertical ribbing to support its weight and withstand wind pressure. The tower once cooled thousands of cubic meters of water per hour, discharging excess heat from the station’s turbines that supplied electricity to the industrial Walloon region. Following the plant’s closure in the early 2000s, the site has remained disused, its monumental scale and weathered surface now emblematic of Charleroi’s industrial decline and gradual environmental recovery.