Northern States Supply history

In May 1961 NSP acquired Western Power and Gas Company's eastern business, which served the southeastern portion of South Dakota.

In March 1964 NSP acquired the properties and assets of Deichen Power, Inc. that had supplied southern Minnesota.

Although ground for the plant was broken in 1966, it took five years and $20 million in losses before the plant became operational.

NSP continued expanding; in 1967 it acquired distribution facilities from Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, as well as the electric distribution facilities of the village of Bayport, Minnesota.

The controversy led NSP to create an environmental affairs department in 1969.

In 1973 as the OPEC oil embargo drove home the importance of conservation, NSP began researching solar energy, wind power, burning garbage as fuel, and even enormous underwater sea turbines.

The company, however, contended that many of its costs, such as property taxes, were beyond its control and in 1989 had sought a $120 million electric rate increase from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Also in 1991, NSP won rate increases in South Dakota and Wisconsin, although these, too, were smaller than initially requested.

In 1992, the federal government moved to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to order electric companies to provide transmission service to other utilities and electric wholesalers, an action which supported the concept of increased competition among electric utilities.

NSP said the 1,060 megawatt plant, which produced 20 percent of its total generating capacity, would have to be shut down by 1995 if additional storage space was not created.