The 60 MW Blackburn Mill Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station has generated electricity since 2002.

[3] Additional plant was added as the demand for electricity increased: by 1923 the plant at Jubilee Street comprised two 2,000 kW steam turbine driven alternators providing 3-phase alternating current at 200 and 400 Volts, and single phase AC at 110 and 220 V.[4] There was also a 775 kW reciprocating engine driven generator supplying 220 and 440 V Direct Current and a 550 V DC supply for traction current for the Blackburn tram system.

[2] In 1914 the Board of Trade gave consent for the construction of a power station at Whitebirk (53°45'36"N 2°26'51"W) about 3 miles north-east of Blackburn town centre.

[2] Construction was delayed by the First World War and the power station was eventually built and was formally opened by Lord Derby on 22 October 1921.

The generating plant comprised two 10 MW English Electric Company Limited turbo-alternators supplied with up to 240,000 lb/hr of steam (3.02 kg/s).

[7][8] Coal was delivered to the station by barge on the adjacent Leeds and Liverpool Canal and by a branch railway.

[4] The operating data for the Blackburn stations over the working life was as follows:[4][10][13][14][15] The electricity supplied, in GWh, is shown graphically.

The amount of electricity sold and the number and types of consumers was as follows:[10] In 1958 the above totals were made up of the following:[10] The Blackburn Whitebirk power station was closed by the CEGB on 26 October 1976.

Electricity (10 MW) and exhaust steam (28 tonnes per hour) was sent to the paper mill for use in the paper-making process.

[17] It was sold to Drax Generation Enterprise Ltd in January 2019,[18] who operated it until the power station was sold in February 2021 to Vitol (VPI Holdings Ltd)[19] In August 2019 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council approved the development by Suez UK of an Energy from Waste plant on Lower Eccleshill Road in Darwen.