Urge Your Electric Utility to Move to 100% Clean Energy by 2035
Minnesota Power is an investor-owned utility that provides electricity for 145,000 residential and commercial customers across Northern Minnesota, including the City of Duluth and Duluth residents. Minnesota Power’s renewable energy source profile has grown over the years, declining from 95% supplied by coal in 2005 to around 53% supplied from renewable sources as of 2023. The utility has committed to a transition to 100% carbon-free energy and is on track to deliver 70% renewable energy by 2030. With electricity production accounting for 62% of Duluth’s greenhouse gas emissions, urging Minnesota Power to commit to 100% renewable energy is the fastest way to reduce our community’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Right now, Minnesota Power operates two coal-fired generators, and the utility plans to be coal-free by 2035. Minnesota Power is also proposing to build a $700 million natural gas plant in Superior, Wisconsin, known as the Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC). Natural gas—from extraction to burning for energy—releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is 30 to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. When both carbon and methane emissions are considered, the latest science shows that the build-out of gas infrastructure will prevent us from reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. NTEC would emit 2.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent each year, including “upstream” emissions from extracting and transporting fossil gas and “downstream” emissions from burning gas at the plant.
Most of Minnesota Power’s electricity is used by large industrial operations like mines, taconite facilities, and paper mills. But a continued reliance on non-renewable energy is dangerous for the community’s health and contributes to climate change. According to the U.S. EPA, nationwide electricity production is the second highest greenhouse gas emissions source by sector at 25%.
In order for Minnesota Power to respond to the climate crisis, we must urge the utility company to make a commitment to 100% clean, renewable energy starting by retiring their coal plants and stopping investments in new energy production facilities powered by fossil fuels like the proposed natural gas plant in Superior. Take action by urging Minnesota Power leadership to drop plans for any new fossil fuel infrastructure and commit to 100% clean energy, like Xcel Energy, which has committed to 100% renewable energy by 2050
Contact Minnesota Power Leaders About this Issue
Use the sample letter below to send a letter to the President and CEO of Minnesota Power, Bethany Owen. She can be reached at bowen@allete.com.
Dear Ms. Owen,
As a resident of Duluth who is served by Minnesota Power, and also a concerned citizen who cares deeply about the future of my community, I am writing to urge you to move Minnesota Power’s energy generation to 100% clean energy. Although your renewable energy source profile has grown over the years, I believe it needs to move faster. With electricity production accounting for 37% of Duluth’s greenhouse gas emissions, we need Minnesota Power to commit to 100% renewable energy in order to reduce our community’s greenhouse gas emissions and stop the worst effects of climate change.
With falling prices for renewable energy, transitioning is not only the responsible decision to make, it is also the smartest economic decision. According to a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, coal-fired power plants lost $1.5 billion each year, in many cases because the coal plants continued to operate in spite of low electricity prices that prevented any profit from being made from the generation of electricity from those coal plants. Your Boswell 3&4 coal plants are losing money over half of the time that the plant is operating.
I’m asking you to retire your coal-fired generators earlier than as currently scheduled and to rescind your plans for the Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC). This plant, once completed, would emit over one million tons of carbon per year and lock our community into paying for fossil fuel and dangerous greenhouse gas emissions for many more decades. A 2019 study published by Rocky Mountain Institute looked at 88 proposed gas plants around the country and found that 90% of them, including NTEC, would provide electricity that costs more than if the utilities instead invested in wind, solar and energy efficiency. Instead, we need to move to 100% renewable energy by 2035.
As a Minnesota Power ratepayer, I would rather have my money invested in clean energy, like wind or solar. Already, other Minnesota utilities, like Xcel have made the commitment to transitioning to 100% renewable energy, while others, like Great River Energy, are committing to retiring uneconomic, polluting coal-fired power plants. It is time for Minnesota Power to make the commitment to 100% renewable energy.
Sincerely,
Your Name
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