The incident occurred at Basin Electric’s Laramie River station in Wheatland at about 2.30pm local time.

Basin official Daryl Hill told the Associated Press that the blaze broke out in a surge bin and the flames were extinguished within a few hours.

Hill told the Billings Gazette regional newspaper that the scope of damage was not yet known but an investigation had commenced into the cause and officials from the company’s North Dakota headquarters were due onsite to assist with damage assessments.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative is the operating agent of the 1700 megawatt Laramie River station.

Five other utilities are partners, including Heartland Consumers Power District, Lincoln Electric System, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and Wyoming Municipal Power Agency.

The facility has three coal-based units – unit 1 is 570MW (net) and began operating in 1980; unit 2 at 570MW started operating in 1981; and unit 3, 570MW, began operating in 1982.

It delivers electricity to two separate electrical grids. Unit 1 is connected to the Eastern Interconnection, while units 2 and 3 are connected to the Western Interconnection.

The operating status of the plant could not be verified by ILN.