Dickinson Substation DC to AC Converter, Minnesota

This electrical substation is the terminus for the 435-mile long CU Transmission Line, one of two high-voltage DC electrical lines that brings power directly from coal-fired power plants in central North Dakota, to customers in Minnesota. (This line crosses the other, the Square Butte Transmission Line, near Wing, North Dakota, the only occurrence of long-distance DC lines crossing one another in the nation.) The line was built in 1978, and connects to an inverter station at the Coal Creek Power Plant, in North Dakota. It is one of just a few long distance DC transmission lines in the USA which are used to connect remote power sources with consumers in urban areas.