The St. Cloud Dam is the largest city-owned hydroelectric facility in Minnesota. It can generate 8.86 megawatts of electricity per day. Although very successful, its current spillway gates have reached the end of their useful life - making the Dam less efficient and safe than it could be. The City of St. Cloud is partnering with the Minnesota DNR to address this problem by installing a new gate system.
A bubbler system installed upstream of the new spillway gates will prevent ice buildup that can cause the gates to fail. This will reduce the need for hydro operators to cut ice from frozen gates - a difficult and dangerous task.