Will it become a high tech computer center? A power plant that generates its electricity from biomass rather than coal? Something else altogether? Or will the buildings at the Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder be taken down and sold for scrap?
No one knows at this time, but the people in attendance at the September 21 Taconite Harbor Community Advisory Panel (CAP) were doing their best to come up with a solution that will retain some kind of business—and jobs—at the site once the power plant is gone.
This much is known, by next fall Minnesota Power will idle Units 1 and 2 and all of the plant’s 42 workers will have found jobs at other Minnesota Power plants or will have taken jobs outside of the company.
Due to the rising cost of coal and the decrease in price of natural gas, Minnesota Power decided it could no longer afford to run the coal-fired power plant. Opened in 1958, Taconite Harbor has long provided power to the iron mines on the Iron Range. When all three units were running, Taconite Harbor produced 225 megawatts, about 10 percent of the company’s electrical generation output.
From 2016 to 2020 Minnesota Power plans to keep Taconite Harbor Energy Center idled, which means if they need to, they can restart it and generate as much as 150 megawatts of electricity.
After that the plant will be removed or re-purposed, and that was the topic of discussion at the CAP meeting held at Surfside in Tofte.
In 2012 Minnesota Power took the initiative to interact with leaders and community members in Cook and Lake counties by forming CAP. The advisory panel includes school, township, county government, and business sector representatives.
Consultant Randy Lasky of the Northspan Group facilitates meetings. Lasky asked those in attendance, “What is the vision and opportunities for reuse or redevelopment of these assets? What core leadership team would work with Minnesota Power to advance ideas?”
Joining the meeting was Al Rudek, vice president of strategy, planning and asset optimization; Julie Pierce, director of power supply, long–term strategy and sales forecasting; and David Rannetsberger, managing superintendent for Taconite Harbor Energy Center.
Over the next year employees are being encouraged to look within the Minnesota Power system for new jobs. Rannetsberger reported that so far three employees have left and three are transitioning away from the plant. All have found work at other Minnesota Power facilities, he said.
Two-thirds of the employees live in Silver Bay, with 15 percent living in Tofte and 15 percent in Grand Marais.
When the plant is idled, Rannetsberger said all of the water will be drained from the lines and the plant won’t be heated. Some coal will be kept onsite so the plant can be restarted if the need arises.
One of the goals of keeping current Taconite Harbor employees hired within Minnesota Power’s network is they can be recalled should the company decide to restart the plant, said Rannetsberger.
Retrofitting the plant to burn torrified woody biomass as a way to make electricity is one option being explored. Rudek said he had been to a plant in Ontario that uses this method, and burning compressed natural gas that could be brought in by boat is also being looked at. “Biomass can be carbon neutral, even though our federal regulators don’t recognize this,” said Rudek.
A lot of conversation centered on options for the long-closed loading dock and railroad, but those assets are owned by Cleveland Cliffs.
Scott Harrison asked about the deep-water port. He noted that Polymet—should it be permitted and opened for operation—would need a lot of materials to run, and he suggested getting an inventory of their needs and seeing if they could be shipped to Taconite Harbor and sent by rail to the Range.
Another suggestion was that Esser Steel could look at shipping its product through the railway and dock, but union contracts may preclude that idea, said Pierce.
Also brought up was converting the plant to a cold water testing facility; making it an agricultural processing plant; using the new broadband technology in the county to transform the facilities into a technology center; or using the latest methods to make a fine potpourri of North Shore beers.
Pierce asked CAP members to keep their thinking caps on and report back to the next meeting with new ideas. As Rudek said, the company has $18 million in inventory in the main building, and getting a return on those assets and the available company owned land is what the company is looking at.
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