Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The loss from a recent fire in Rochester has been estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

The Rochester Fire Department responded on the night of June 2 after a fire was reported at a Rochester Public Utilities substation. When firefighters arrived at the Cascade Creek substation around 11 o'clock that night, they found heavy smoke coming from a large structure containing a gas-powered turbine used to generate electricity.

READ MORE: Fire Hits RPU Gas Turbine Power Plant

An initial assessment after the fire was extinguished indicated that the contents of the building suffered heavy damage, while the structure itself sustained minor to moderate damage. At a recent meeting of the Rochester Public Utilities Board, a consultant working with RPU on plans to meet the city's future power needs indicated that the cost of replacing the 30 MW power plant was estimated at around $60 million.

RPU staff members told the board that discussions concerning the fire damage are ongoing with the utility's insurers, but it is likely that an undetermined portion of the loss will be covered by insurance.

Replacing the gas turbine power plant is also expected to be a lengthy process. The consultant told the RPU Board that the demand for gas turbine electric generators has soared due to the ongoing development of large data centers for artificial intelligence projects.

The consultant indicated the data centers require a huge amount of power—sometimes a gigawatt of electricity—and the corporations building them have been placing orders for gas turbine and other combustible power generation systems. This is straining the ability of the few manufacturers to meet demand and is driving up prices. The consultant’s report to the RPU Board estimated that the replacement for the destroyed gas turbine unit would be online sometime in 2029.