ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Today, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rejected Minnesota Power’s request to build a costly new gas plant to meet future energy demand and ordered the electric utility to continue investigating alternatives that would maintain grid reliability.
Clean Energy Organizations (CEOs) — including Clean Grid Alliance (CGA), Fresh Energy, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), and Sierra Club — applaud the PUC’s decision, which puts affordability first by ensuring Minnesota Power’s customers are not locked into paying for a costly new gas plant without exploring more cost-effective options.
“The regulatory process worked here, and we applaud the Commission for its decision,” said Will Mulhern, Director of Electricity at Fresh Energy. “Our analysis, built on the utility’s own numbers, found no case for locking in a new gas plant nine years before it’s needed — especially when gas construction and operating costs are at an all-time high. Today’s decision directly reflects Fresh Energy and the CEO’s data-driven recommendations and advances a clean energy transition for Minnesotans.”
“Minnesota Power claimed private equity ownership would help fund its clean energy transition, but even with BlackRock backing it, the company is still proposing new fossil fuels. A clean energy transition is critical to preventing record-breaking heat waves and wildfire smoke from becoming Minnesota’s new normal, and the Commission’s decision to investigate gas plant alternatives is a step toward keeping that transition on track,” added Margaret Levin, Director of Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter.
