In November, Fresh Energy’s science policy director J. Drake Hamilton will be participating in the annual international climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany. Find out what’s happening.
J. Drake Hamilton
Minnesota Updates Cost of Air Pollution from Power Plants
Today, in a victory for public health, clean air, and homegrown clean energy, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) updated calculations to reflect the true cost that air pollution imposes on Minnesotans.
New cost-effective, clean energy for Otter Tail Power customers
On March 16, 2017, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Otter Tail Power Company’s new 15-year Resource Plan, affirming that additional clean energy investments are a good bet for the utility’s customers.
Missed opportunity for clean energy as gas plant bill moves forward
Today, Governor Dayton signed a bill into law that allows Xcel Energy to build a natural gas plant in Becker, Minnesota. Though Fresh Energy believes that the bill is a missed opportunity to pursue even greater investments in local clean energy sources like wind, solar, and energy efficiency, we are hopeful that Xcel will bring plans for the proposed plant to the Public Utilities Commission for careful review.
Minnesota Power to retire two coal plants
Today, Minnesota Power based in Duluth announced their decision to retire two older coal-burning power plants, Boswell 1 and 2 in Cohasset, MN, near Grand Rapids, by the end of 2018. Fresh Energy and our clean energy partners advocated that these units appear to be no longer economic to run, with cleaner energy available and cheaper. Regulators at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on June 9, 2016 evaluated the economics of running these older units with needed additional pollution controls, compared to other cleaner, cheaper options for meeting energy needs, and the PUC agreed with us.
How the historic decision to transform Xcel Energy’s electricity was made
Working directly with Xcel and with our “Clean Energy Organizations”, or CEO, partnership, Fresh Energy used for the first time in Minnesota the same utility inputs and modeling Xcel uses. We analyzed options for closing the Sherco 1 and 2 coal plants and replacing them with vast amounts of cost-effective energy efficiency, wind, and solar power. Our independent analysis demonstrated that Xcel’s cheapest course of action—and the lowest in carbon—was the retirement and replacement of these two units, which are the biggest sources of global warming pollution in the Upper Midwest. Xcel agreed with our analysis, and completely revised its 15-year plan to reflect those economic opportunities. Fresh Energy applauds the unanimous Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decision to modify and approve Xcel’s 15-year Resource Plan as the affordable, reliable, and clean path forward for Minnesota customers.
