DULUTH — Minnesota Power plans to generate 90% of its energy from renewable sources by 2035 and eliminate coal from its fuel mix during the same time frame.
The utility laid out its roadmap for the next decade when it filed an Integrated Resource Plan with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Monday.
Its proposal to shift away from coal by increasing its reliance on natural gas disappointed some environmentalists pushing to reverse climate change through curbed greenhouse gas emissions.
In all, Minnesota Power aims to generate about 1,000 megawatts of energy from natural gas within the next decade by repowering what is now a coal-fired unit at the Boswell Energy Center in Cohasset and also bringing another 750 megawatts of new natural gas energy capacity online.
Julie Pierce, Minnesota Power’s vice president of strategy and planning, said the plan does not prescribe exactly how to reach those goals but acknowledged the currently stalled Nemadji Trail Energy Center could be part of the solution. That proposed $1 billion plant could bring 625 megawatts of new power capacity to Superior. The project previously failed to obtain city approval and needed permits, but recent reports of pending federal support for fast-tracking key energy infrastructure have rekindled interest in the power plant proposal.
Minnesota Power’s continued interest in new natural-gas-fired operations comes as unfortunate news for Amelia Vohs, climate program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.
“While we are still reviewing Minnesota Power's proposed integrated resource plan, we generally believe that fossil fuels should be a very last resort, and our analysis of the NTEC gas plant proposal over many years shows the harm it will have to the community,” she said in a statement Monday.
Pierce said Minnesota Power remains dedicated to the goal of providing reliable energy to its customers, both residential and industrial, at a reasonable cost, and predicted natural gas will serve as a useful transition fuel as the utility works toward a statewide goal of removing fossil fuels from its energy portfolio by 2040.
“It’s reaffirming our commitment to decarbonization — our commitment to cease utilizing coal for our customers in our portfolio — and then some really exciting developments around additional renewable energy and storage,” she said.
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Pierce noted that modern natural gas power generation produces about 65% less in greenhouse gas emissions than the coal-fired units it will replace, megawatt for megawatt.
She also pointed out that gas-powered generation can be quickly and cost-effectively deployed to fill any gaps in the electrical grid. Pierce stressed the importance of maintaining steady baseload capacity to support its customers, including large industrial users such as mining operations, around the clock.
To help even out its power supply and mitigate the interruptable nature of some renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, Minnesota Power intends to expand its energy storage capacity by at least 100 megawatts by 2035. Pierce said staff will continue to evaluate the most efficient and cost-effective technologies to store energy.
Meanwhile, the Duluth-based utility company will continue to invest in its renewable energy portfolio, laying out plans to add 400 megawatts of wind power to the 700 megawatts of renewable energy it already has in development.
Minnesota Power continues to support scaled-back operations at the Boswell Energy Center while working to wean the facility completely off coal, explained Josh Skelton, the company’s chief operating officer.
“By utilizing the existing critical infrastructure at Boswell, we will preserve local jobs and tax revenue for the communities of Cohasset and Itasca County, which is integral to our sustainability-in-action strategy, supporting local economies during the clean-energy transition,” Skelton said.
Minnesota Power’s Integrated Resource Plan will be available for public comment by customers, community members and industry watchdogs. The Public Utilities Commission is expected to weigh in on the proposed plan by 2026.
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The utility supplies energy to a 26,000-square-mile service area, providing electricity to about 150,000 customers, including some of the largest industrial consumers in the nation.
Pearce said Minnesota Power anticipates it can fund its 2035 plan with annual rate increases of about 2% in upcoming years.
She said that for the first time in nearly a decade, Minnesota Power anticipates its energy demands are poised to grow, fueled by increased industrial opportunities and the country’s surging technological needs, giving rise to ever more data centers.
This story originally misstated how much additional electrical generation fueled by natural gas online that Minnesota Power aims to bring online in the next decade. It was updated at 9:32 a.m. March 4 with the company's actual capacity projection. The News Tribune regrets the error.
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