ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) –An Xcel power plant in Red Wing has reached a 75-year milestone and has turned more than seven million tons of waste into carbon free energy since 1987. Leon Lenertz, Plant Manager, said that the power plant is necessary for solid waste that cannot be recycled.
“The bulk of the waste that is generated is unfortunately unrecyclable,” he said. “We like to think of it as where we are recycling it into electricity, that we can send out on a line, that people can use in their homes.”
In a single day 800 tons of waste is brought into the plant. Before it was turned into a waste to energy facility improvements were made throughout the years.
“The plant’s gone through numerous upgrades and iterations with millions of dollars of capital investments and projects to make it what it is today,” Lenertz said. “The facility now 37 years later is probably in the best shape and most reliable that it’s ever…
