On this date in 1926, Ottertail Power Company quietly launched North Dakota’s first major lignite-fired power plant at Washburn, marking a transformative step in regional electrification by transmitting low-cost energy across hundreds of miles to dozens of communities in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:

Plant of Ottertail Power Company of Fergus Falls, Minn., Begins Operating at Washburn to Help Complete Network of Lines

Long Discussed Possibility Becomes Reality — Project Looked Upon As Big Step in Development of State and Northwest

What the recent opening of a power plant, using lignite coal for manufacturing electrical power, in close proximity to the mines at Washburn, N. D., means to the state is discussed

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