[8] The State Line Generating Plant was designed in Art Deco style by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White[9] and built in 1926–1929 under the orders of industrial magnate Samuel Insull.

Generating plants throughout the metropolitan area had developed the capacity to produce 1,310 megawatts of power to serve 1,300,000 customer households.

With a capacity of 208 megawatts, Unit 1 upon its operational date in 1929 was the largest turbine generator constructed up to that time.

The State Line Power Plant had been professionally engineered and constructed, so continued to operate through the Depression, World War II, and into the postwar years.

Instead, State Line's operations were grandfathered, giving the plant the right to vent nitrogen oxides, airborne mercury, and sulphur dioxide into the air.

[2] In early May 2011, Dominion Resources informed Wall Street financial analysts that the firm did not plan to retrofit State Line with Clean Air Act pollution controls, and would instead shut the plant down in the three-year 2012–2014 period.

[6] Upon completion of the March 31 shutdown, Dominion withdrew its remaining movable assets from the cold plant and handed it over to a demolition firm, BTU Solutions, on June 26, 2012.