"One of the nation’s largest coal-fueled electric plants is being replaced with thousands of acres of solar panels and a test of long-duration batteries."

"The past and the future of electricity in America are perhaps most visible in a Minnesota town surrounded by potato farms and cornfields.

Towering over Becker, a community of a little more than 5,000 people northwest of Minneapolis, is one of the nation’s largest coal power plants. It is being replaced — to the dismay of some residents — with thousands of acres of solar panels and a test of long-duration batteries.

Becker is one of the first of a group of seven Minnesota municipal areas, called the Coalition of Utility Cities, making the change from a fossil-fuel-based economy to clean energy."

Ivan Penn reports for the New York Times with photographs and video by Tim Gruber August 19, 2024. [2]