Built in 1909, the University of North Dakota Steam Generating Plant consumes 7 boxcars (20 semi loads) of coal per day, feeding pressurized steam into a 13-mile network of pipes. The plant is located at 251 Centennial Drive, across from the Carnegie Building in Grand Forks, ND.[1]

According to a University of North Dakota Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report for 1993-2007, the University's steam plant is the largest consumer of energy and greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the campus. The steam plant is responsible for approximately 98 percent of on-campus stationary source emissions.[2]