On the night of December 27th, 2008, the unattended Prairie River Powerhouse was destroyed in a spectacular fire. Minnesota Power moved quickly to secure the site, notify the FERC, and begin cleanup and salvage operations. Everything above the main generating floor of the brick superstructure was destroyed – including the adjacent substation. The concrete substructure, two Francis turbines and the adjacent surge tank were all that remained. A series of decisions were quickly made to protect the site, provide emergency electrical service, and install a temporary wicket gate operator to maintain downstream river flows, while deciding what to do with the badly damaged facility. This case study describes the various challenges encountered in negotiating a reasonable insurance settlement for a 1920’s vintage powerhouse; identifying various options to rebuild, expand, or decommission the facility, and evaluating the overall economics of such investments. Eventually a decision was made to construct an expanded modern powerhouse on the original substructure while keeping the licensed capacity unchanged. The construction process has encountered both expected and unexpected challenges. Like the venerable Phoenix rising from the ashes, the expanded, contemporary powerhouse maintains the architectural vernacular of the original brick structure and will provide clean renewable energy for decades to come. The challenges encountered and the methods employed to resolve them will be of interest to others who may be involved in a similar unscheduled outage and project restoration.
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