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on May 23, 2019
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Wind Subsidies for Xcel Energy’s Minnesota Operations Totaled More Than $49 Million in 2016

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

According to data found in utility documents filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy earned $49.3 million in federal subsidies in 2016 from its wind facilities located throughout Minnesota and North Dakota. It's important to remember that the cost of wind energy in Minnesota is not just reflected in your monthly electric bill, but it also increases the amount of federal taxes you must pay. While $49 million is no doubt a significant chuck of change, it likely represents only a small amount of the federal subsidies doled out to wind producers in Minnesota because most of the wind...

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on April 25, 2019
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It’s All About the Subsidies, Baby! Minnesota’s Wind Farms Are Being Rebuilt to Capture More Subsidies

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

The Lake Benton Wind (LBW) Farm in southern Minnesota is being retooled to improve turbine performance and reliability, but most importantly, it is being rebuilt to generate federal production tax credits.  According to North American Wind Power, in 2017, ALLETE Clean Energy announced an $80 million project that includes replacing select blades, gearboxes and generators on turbines at the Lake Benton wind farm in Minnesota’s Lincoln County and the Storm Lake I and II wind farms in Iowa’s Buena Vista and Cherokee counties. The Lake Benton 1 facility was placed into service in 1998, and Lake Benton 2 was placed into service in 1999....

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on February 24, 2019
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The Big Problem With Wind, Solar, and Batteries

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment

The following article originally appeared in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. There have been many recent articles in The Daily Sentinel on Xcel's new Colorado Energy Plan related to climate change policy. In addition, the national news has been covering the Green New Deal being proposed by many politicians to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels in the next 10 years. It is ludicrous to think that we could live in a modern society without fossil fuels. Affordable fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and oil have brought more people out of poverty in the modern world than ever before. Nineteenth...

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on November 17, 2018
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The Production Tax Credit: Corporate Subsidies & Renewable Energy

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment

Wind energy is a $14 billion industry made up of wind facilities, turbine manufacturers, and financiers. While the industry grew over the past few decades, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and its corporate members pushed for new and continued subsidies that would enable large energy corporations to profit at the expense of taxpayers....

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on September 12, 2018
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Clean Energy Businesses Advocates Make the Case for More Green Energy Handouts

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment, Minnesota Economy

Special interest groups for the wind and solar industry, in addition to companies like Mortenson Construction have begun pounding the table this election cycle, holding a news conference yesterday the next governor of Minnesota to adapt several policies that will “take advantage of the economic development potential provided by advanced energy technologies and services.” Of course, what this really means is they want more subsidies and more renewable energy mandates that give wind and solar companies a monopoly on your checkbook. ...

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on July 09, 2018
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Norman Rogers: “Wind and Solar Are Dumb Electricity”

Written by Isaac Orr
in Energy, Environment

We are constantly treated to disinformation claiming that wind or solar is competitive with fossil fuels. How is it competitive when it can’t replace fossil fuels, but only serves as a supplemental source of power that reduces fuel consumption in the fossil-fuel plants? Since it costs far more to reduce the fuel consumed than it is worth, wind and solar make absolutely no sense. ...

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