Burger was constructed in the 1940s to meet industrial demand for power generation during World War II.

[5] The unit cost $12 million to construct and was financed from the issuing of Ohio Edison stock by Lehman Brothers.

Burger was an experimental site for clean coal technology by Ohio Edison with sponsorship from the United States Department of Energy.

A SOx-NOx Rox Box (SNRB) developed by Babcock & Wilcox simultaneously removed sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulates at the same time in a 5 MW unit.

[10] In 2004, an Electro-Catalytic Oxidation (ECO) scrubber, designed by Powerspan to reduce SO2 and mercury emissions, was tested at R.E.

The project tested the potential of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and injecting it into geologic rock acting as a storage well.

Burger into a biomass plant to remain profitable in the face of cheaper natural gas prices and lower demand for electricity during the Great Recession.

[16][17] The costs to convert into a biomass plant was $130 million cheaper compared to installing industrial scrubbers to reduce pollution.