Editing Duluth, Minnesota (section)

===Utilities===
Duluth gets electric power from Duluth-based [[Minnesota Power]], a subsidiary of ALLETE Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Businesses - ALLETE, Inc. |url=http://www.allete.com/our_businesses/minnesota_power.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309052003/http://www.allete.com/our_businesses/minnesota_power.php |archive-date=March 9, 2012 |access-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref> Minnesota Power produces energy at generation facilities located throughout northern Minnesota and a generation plant in North Dakota. The latter supplies electricity into the MP system by the [[Square Butte (transmission line)|Square Butte]] [[HVDC]] line, which ends near the town.

Minnesota Power primarily uses western coal to generate electricity but also has a number of small hydroelectric facilities, the largest of which is the [[Thomson Dam (Minnesota)|Thomson Dam]] southwest of Duluth on the Saint Louis River.

In December 2006, Minnesota Power began purchasing all the energy generated from the new 50-MW Oliver Wind I Energy Center built by NextEra Resources near [[Center, North Dakota]]. In 2007, Minnesota Power entered into a second 25-year wind [[power purchase agreement]] with NextEra. A 48-MW facility was built adjacent to the initial Oliver County wind farm, and new generators began commercial operation in November 2007.

Construction began in 2010 on the 76-MW Bison Wind I Energy Center near [[New Salem, North Dakota]]. Bison I represents the first wave of Minnesota Power-constructed wind farms that will be built in south central North Dakota and linked to Minnesota by way of a {{convert|465|mi|km|adj=on}} direct current (DC) transmission line. In 2010, ALLETE finalized an agreement to purchase a 250-kilovolt DC line between Center, North Dakota, and Hermantown, Minnesota (near ALLETE headquarters in Duluth), and phase out a long-term contract to buy coal-generated electricity transmitted over the line.
[[File:Lakewood Pumphouse Duluth 1915.jpg|alt=Black-and-white photo of a Romanesque revival building along a lakeshore with pine trees|thumb|Duluth's Lakewood [[Pumping station|Pumphouse]], built in 1896 and pictured in 1915, is still in use today]]
Because of wind energy demand, Duluth has recently become a port for wind energy parts shipments from overseas and the Midwestern hub for shipments out to various wind energy sites.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Brooks |date=November 19, 2020 |title=Another record season for wind turbine shipments at Duluth port |url=https://www.startribune.com/another-record-season-for-wind-turbine-shipments-at-duluth-port/573132121/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423033459/https://www.startribune.com/another-record-season-for-wind-turbine-shipments-at-duluth-port/573132121/ |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |website=[[Star Tribune]]}}</ref>

Duluth's water supply is sourced from Lake Superior and treated at the Lakewood Water Treatment Plant. The plant's oldest structure, the Lakewood Pumphouse, was built in 1896 in [[Romanesque Revival architecture|Romanesque Revival]] style, replacing older facilities that had been unable to prevent a [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]] epidemic. It was designed by William Patton. A 42-inch original [[Water distribution system|main]] from 1896, one of two leaving the facility with clean, treated water, is still in use today. The system supplies approximately 100,000 people in Duluth and nearby towns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boone |first=Robert |date=February 18, 2016 |title=The water of Duluth |url=https://duluthreader.com/articles/2016/02/18/106014-the-water-of-duluth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518123128/https://duluthreader.com/articles/2016/02/18/106014-the-water-of-duluth |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |website=Duluth Reader |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dierckins |first=Tony |date=April 21, 2017 |title=Lakewood Pump House |url=http://zenithcity.com/archive/historic-architecture/lakewood-pump-house/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116220050/http://zenithcity.com/archive/historic-architecture/lakewood-pump-house/ |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |access-date=May 18, 2021 |website=Zenith City Online |language=en-US}}</ref>

Throughout its history, Duluth's sewers have overflowed when it rains, causing untreated sewage to flow into Lake Superior and the Saint Louis River. In 2001 alone, the overflow amounted to over {{convert|6.9|e6USgal|L impgal}}. The City of Duluth has recently taken measures to eliminate sewage overflows; in 2013, the improvements were three years ahead of schedule.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}