# Lincoln County, Minnesota: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Tyler Lincoln County is a power-producing county: the plants here serve load well beyond its borders. Lincoln County is home to Tyler, Lake Benton, Hendricks and Ivanhoe. Construction employs 151, down 18.8% since 2019, and construction is 1.7 times as concentrated here as in the U.S. economy. Next door, Lyon County has 420 MW of planned generation. 506 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly wind. Its power plants have 1,052 MW of capacity, 100% of it wind, the 5th largest fleet in Minnesota. 1.7× the U.S. share of jobs in construction 1,052 MW of operating power plants, mostly wind 16.98¢ per kWh for Northern States Power Co - Minnesota residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Lincoln County Lincoln County is home to Tyler, Lake Benton, Hendricks and Ivanhoe. Tyler1,112 residents Lake Benton677 residents Hendricks605 residents Ivanhoe540 residents Marshfield Township257 residents Hope Township222 residents Diamond Lake Township217 residents Shaokatan Township210 residents Lake Benton Township204 residents Hendricks Township190 residents Verdi Township176 residents Marble Township169 residents Alta Vista Township164 residents Royal Township144 residents Lake Stay Township140 residents Limestone Township138 residents Ash Lake Township133 residents Drammen Township123 residents Arco83 residents Hansonville Township79 residents Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Lincoln County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Minnesota | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 5,623 | 5,583 | ▼ 0.7% | 80th of 87 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 1,668 | 1,671 | ▲ 0.2% | 35th of 87 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $35,707 | $46,154 | ▲ 29.3% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 186 | 151 | ▼ 18.8% | 70th of 72 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.0% | 4.4% | ▲ 0.4pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 506 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota is the largest utility serving Lincoln County, one of 7 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 16.98¢/kWh in 2024, above the 14.36¢ median for Minnesota utilities. Unemployment was 4.4% in August 2026, against 4.0% in 2019. Employers here counted 1,671 jobs in 2025, up 0.2% from 2019. 5,583 people live here, down 0.7% since 2020. ## Who powers Lincoln County ### Utilities with service territory in Lincoln County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,230,057 | 16.98¢ | 44% | | Otter Tail Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 50,118 | 11.33¢ | 37% | | Minnesota Valley Coop L&P Assn | Cooperative | Bundled | 4,931 | 12.22¢ | 8% | | Sioux Valley SW Elec Coop | Cooperative | Bundled | 3,370 | 12.61¢ | 5% | | Lyon Electric Cooperative, Inc. | — | — | — | — | — | | Nobles Cooperative Electric | — | — | — | — | — | | City of Tyler - (MN) | — | — | — | — | — | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Wind | 1,052 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Red Pine Wind Project | EDF Renewable Asset Holdings, Inc. | Wind | 200 MW | 2017 | | Blazing Star Wind Farm 1 | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota | Wind | 200 MW | 2020 | | Blazing Star 2 Wind Farm | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota | Wind | 200 MW | 2021 | | MinnDakota Wind LLC | Avangrid Power LLC | Wind | 150 MW | 2008 | | Lake Benton I | ALLETE Clean Energy | Wind | 107 MW | 1998 | | Buffalo Ridge Wind | Buffalo Ridge Wind, LLC | Wind | 106 MW | 2022 | ## The Lincoln County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 1,671 | $46,154 | 1.00 | | Construction | 151 | $64,695 | 1.71 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Lincoln County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Lincoln County. Minnesota has 25 local measures on record statewide. ## Lincoln County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Lincoln County, Lyon County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Lincoln County | 5,583 | ▲ 0.2% | 1,052 MW | — | — | — | | Brookings County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/brookings-county) SD | 37,635 | ▲ 5.2% | 682 MW | 5 MW | — | — | | Deuel County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/deuel-county) SD | 4,408 | ▲ 14.4% | 803 MW | 145 MW | — | — | | Lyon County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/lyon-county) | 25,684 | ▼ 4.2% | 121 MW | 420 MW | — | — | | Moody County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/south-dakota/moody-county) SD | 6,632 | ▼ 6.0% | — | — | — | — | | Pipestone County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/pipestone-county) | 9,260 | ▼ 5.3% | 385 MW | — | — | — | | Yellow Medicine County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/yellow-medicine-county) | 9,477 | ▼ 10.9% | 14 MW | — | — | — | ## More of Minnesota [All Minnesota countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota)[Lyon County25,684 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/lyon-county)[Yellow Medicine County9,477 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/yellow-medicine-county)[Pipestone County9,260 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/pipestone-county) ## Lincoln County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Lincoln County, Minnesota? 7 utilities have service territory in Lincoln County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota, Otter Tail Power Co, Minnesota Valley Coop L&P Assn, Sioux Valley SW Elec Coop. The largest, Northern States Power Co - Minnesota, charged residential customers 16.98¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Lincoln County? 25 operating plants with 1,052 MW of capacity. The largest is Red Pine Wind Project (200 MW, wind). ### Are there data centers in Lincoln County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Lincoln County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Lyon County. ### Is Lincoln County adding jobs? Employers counted 1,671 jobs in 2025 against 1,668 in 2019 (+0.2%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 186 to 151. ### Does Lincoln County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Lincoln County. Minnesota has 25 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/minnesota/lincoln-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).