Electrical power in this particular part of the nation supposedly originates at several huge generating plants based on the Mississippi River.

If the power comes from Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, then it originates at plants located in Genoa and Alma, Wis., operated by Dairyland Electric Cooperative.

If the electricity comes from Alliant Energy, then its likely produced at the big riverside plant in Lansing, Iowa.

About 14 or 15 years ago I had the opportunity to visit Dairyland’s main office and control center in La Crosse, Wis. Then we went to the power plant at Genoa, 16 miles south of La Crosse.

To get to this plant from the village and State Highway 35, we crossed several sets of railroad tracks. This helped to emphasize one way Dairyland was bringing in the carloads of coal needed to fuel the generating plant. On the west side of this power plant were large piles of coal and equipment used to unload river barges.

Not far away we could see Lock and Dam No. 8, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for river navigation.

Seeing this dam and all the water flowing over the spillways reminded me of an earlier incident involving President Carter when he rode down the river on one of the &uot;Queen&uot; excursion boats. Carter wondered why those dams on the Mississippi River weren’t being used to generate electricity.

As I looked at the nearby lock and dam, the same thought came to my mind. In fact, I even asked our tour guide about this potential source for electrical power.

Our guide became somewhat defensive. She said a dam had to have a waterfall of 45 feet or more to even generate electricity. Lock and dam No. 8 at Genoa has a water displacement of maybe six to eight feet.

I had the distinct impression that my query wasn’t very welcome. To the guide it likely made as much sense as a question about coal burning diesel engines.

Yet, as we mentioned in last week’s column, an Ohio firm may still be trying to install a small low pressure and low volume generating plant at Lock and Dam No. 5A near Minnesota City, and just north of Winona.

Right about here, I might add that a multitude of dams lower than 45 feet in height around the nation have been generating electricity for decades.

There are 29 sets of locks and dams on the Mississippi River between the Twin Cities and St. Louis. Eleven of these units from St. Anthony Falls to Guttenberg, Iowa, are under the jurisdiction of the St. Paul District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

To find out how many of these river dam actually produce electricity, I called the St. Paul District to get an answer.

The person I finally made contact with said Xcel Energy has a hydroelectric plant based on St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. Another generating plant is located at the Ford Dam in St. Paul.

Then the man in the St. Paul District office mentioned a third place on the river which certainly contradicted the 45-foot water fall rule once mentioned by the guide from Dairyland Power. This third place is at Lock and Dam No. 2, just upriver from Hastings. The man from the St. Paul District office said there’s a 12-foot water displacement, or spillway height, at this dam and an electrical generating power plant operated by the City of Hastings.

The only other place in the Mississippi River navigational control system where electricity is generated he mentioned is Lock and Dam No. 19 at Keokuk, Iowa.

Maybe sometime in the future even more of our electrical power will come from new generators or turbines based on the Mississippi River’s other locks and dams.

Tribune feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays.