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on June 09, 2019
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Rob Port: Xcel’s Coal-Free Plan is Politics Not Reality

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment

The article below originally appeared in the Inforum, and it's spot on.  Xcel's decision is about padding its ratebase, and thus its corporate profits, and if they have to team up with the environmental groups, then so be it. MINOT, N.D. — “Xcel Energy plans to shutter its two remaining coal plants in the Upper Midwest a decade earlier than scheduled — a move that will make the utility coal-free in the region by 2030,” Mary Divine reported for the St. Paul Pioneer Press this week. That’s big news. All the more so because it’s not the full measure of Xcel’s ambition. The...

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on May 30, 2019
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Xcel’s Plan to Close Coal Plants Early Is Bad News for Minnesota Families and Businesses

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Last week, Xcel Energy announced their desire to shutter the last of their coal-fired power plants a decade earlier than previously planned. If approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the plan would increase electricity costs for Minnesota families and businesses and produce zero measurable reductions in global temperatures. It would, however, result in handsome corporate profits for Xcel Energy, which would be a direct wealth transfer from everyday Minnesotans, who are forced by the government to buy their electricity from Xcel, to the company's shareholders. Minnesota's coal plants provide some of the lowest-cost electricity in the state. The graph below...

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on May 06, 2019
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Refuting “Local View: Minnesota Must Aggressively Move to Less-Costly Renewables”

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

My piece in the Duluth News Tribune detailing how a 50 percent renewable energy mandate would harm the mining industry has generated quite the controversy, with at least three counterpoints from renewable energy special interest groups. Today, I'm refuting a member of the Citizen's Climate Lobby....

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on May 02, 2019
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Minnesota Madness! New Video Sums Up Our New Study

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

In case you didn't have time to read Doubling Down on Failure, our 80 page report on the cost of a 50 percent renewable energy mandate, you're in luck because the Clear Energy Alliance has made a four minute video explaining the findings. Share it far and wide to get the message of energy sanity to as many people as possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rf5z2bNY7Q...

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on April 30, 2019
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One Korean Nuclear Reactor Would Produce As Much Electricity As All Minnesota Wind Turbines at a Much Lower Cost

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Last week, Korean Electric Power (KEPCO) connected its second advanced pressure reactor (APR) 1400 nuclear reactor to the grid. This is significant because these power plants, with a generation capacity of 1,400 megawatts (MW), would be able to generate about as much electricity as the combined output of all the wind facilities in Minnesota, for a fraction of the cost. Nuclear power plants are incredibly efficient, with capacity factors of 90 percent or higher. This means nuclear plants will generate about 90 percent of their theoretical output during the course of a year. As a result, building just one APR1400 reactor...

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on April 29, 2019
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University of Chicago: Renewable Energy Mandates Increase Electricity Costs

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

The University of Chicago made waves last week by releasing the findings of a working paper that found renewable energy mandates cause electricity prices to rise. This won't be surprising to our readers, but it is massive vindication for all the hard work American Experiment has put into educating the general public about the negative consequences of renewable energy mandates. From the abstract of the paper: "Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) are the largest and perhaps most popular climate policy in the US, having been enacted by 29 states and the District of Columbia. Using the most comprehensive panel data set ever compiled...

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on April 23, 2019
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Star Tribune: Technology, Cost Could Hamper Efforts for 100 Percent Carbon-Free Grid in Minnesota by 2050

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

On April 20th, the Star Tribune ran a story entitled "Technology, Cost Could Hamper Efforts for 100 Percent Carbon-Free Grid in Minnesota by 2050." It was good to see the paper acknowledging that the policies proposed by Governor Walz and House DLF'ers will be expensive and the technology needed to attain this goal (without the use of nuclear and large hydro) does not exist. ...

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on April 16, 2019
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The Case for a Green ‘No Deal’

Written by Isaac Orr
in Climate, Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Those who advocate for Minnesota's "Green New Deal" are not the adults in the room. How can one credibly claim that global warming is an "existential crisis,"  yet refuse to utilize the most reliable, affordable, and scaleable sources of carbon-dioxide free electricity available? I submit that they cannot. But do we need to make a Green New Deal at all? The following article argues that we do not....

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