On February 6, 2012, Minnesota Power (MP) filed a study with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that explores future energy needs along with the potential impact of bringing three of Minnesota Power’s coal-fired plants into compliance with pending EPA regulations.
The study, called a Baseload Diversification Study, was ordered by the Minnesota PUC and required Minnesota Power to examine various scenarios including retrofitting the facilities to bring them into compliance with future regulations or shutting plants down completely.
In February 2012, Minnesota Power Regional Development Director Nancy Aronson Norr told the Cook County News- Herald, “We are being asked to look at the potential of closing Taconite Harbor.”
Fresh Energy, an environmental nonprofit group, is hosting a free public forum from 7 to 9 p.m. April 11 at the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Labovitz School of Business and Economics.
According to Fresh Energy, this forum will provide information about Minnesota Power’s report on the future of their oldest coal plants, and panelists will discuss plans for diversifying electricity supply to clean, efficient sources of energy that will create and sustain good paying jobs in northeastern Minnesota.
Speakers include Al Rudeck, vice president of strategy and planning, Minnesota Power; J. Drake Hamilton, science policy director, Fresh Energy; and Jill Doberstein, program manager, American Lung Association of Minnesota. The League of Women Voters of Duluth will moderate the panel discussion and question and-answer period.
For more information, contact J. Drake Hamilton at Hamilton@fresh-energy.org.
Leave a Reply