# Hennepin Island

MISO asset profile · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/hennepin-island

Northern States Power Company - Minnesota - Hennepin County - MISO

Hennepin Island Hydroelectric Plant is a conventional hydroelectric facility with five operating generators totaling 13.7 MW of nameplate capacity in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The plant sits on Hennepin Island adjacent to St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis, near the historic Pillsbury "A" Mill. It is owned and operated by Northern States Power Company – Minnesota, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, which controls the site's historic water rights. The plant runs under FERC Project No. 2056, a license reissued on March 8, 2004 for a 30-year term covering the 12.4-MW upper development, putting the current license horizon at 2034. As a license condition, Xcel built the adjoining Water Power Park for public river access; the park closed in July 2025 for an underground wall project to stabilize the earthen dam forming Hennepin Island, with reopening planned for mid-April 2026.

## Metrics

- **Nameplate capacity:** 13.7 MW — Canonical EIA plant baseline.
- **Registry anchor:** Plant 1911 — plant-1911

## Facts

- **Technology:** Conventional Hydroelectric
- **Operator:** Northern States Power Company - Minnesota

## Related parties

- **Owner / operator:** Northern States Power Company - Minnesota — EIA-reported utility entity 13781; FERC licensee for St. Anthony Falls Project P-2056; transmission/distribution system owner ([source](https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/energy/service-areas/minnesota))
- **Parent company:** Xcel Energy Inc. — Parent company; identifies Hennepin Island among its hydroelectric plants ([source](https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/energy/sources/hydro))
- **Acquirer:** Northern States Securities Corporation — Intermediate acquirer; NSP subsidiary that purchased the water-power companies from Pillsbury
- **Former owner:** Pillsbury Flour Mills Company — Seller in the 1923 transaction

## Sources

- [api.eia.gov](https://api.eia.gov/v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/data?api_key=DEMO_KEY&frequency=monthly&data%5B0%5D=nameplate-capacity-mw&data%5B1%5D=net-summer-capacity-mw&data%5B2%5D=net-winter-capacity-mw&data%5B3%5D=operating-year-month&facets%5Bplantid%5D%5B%5D=1911&start=2026-07&end=2026-07&length=500) — api.eia.gov · authoritative — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [corporate.my.xcelenergy.com](https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/energy/sources/hydro) — corporate.my.xcelenergy.com · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.
- [hydroreform.org](https://hydroreform.org/hydro-project/hennepin-island-p-2056/) — hydroreform.org · public_source — Source retained for exact-record publication review.

---

Canonical page: https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/hennepin-island
Website: [Northern States Power Company – Minnesota (Xcel Energy)](https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/energy/service-areas/minnesota)

Source: Ask the Grid — https://askthegrid.com/