A beautiful mid-summer day in Minnesota. But where is the wind? 3:00 p.m., 84 degrees, low humidity and no wind in my neck of the woods, so I thought it…
The Province of Ontario wages a trade war against Minnesota, but without any ammunition. The putatively Conservative premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, launched a trade war of his own against…
Solar power in Minnesota hopes to transform the landscape, both figuratively and literally, over the next decade. The Minnesota Star Tribune ran a piece last week touting the growth of…
Coal and natural gas power are currently supplying more than 76 percent of the region’s electricity. Both fuels will be banned in Minnesota. Here was the fuel mix for the…
The modern coach-style tour bus parked in front of a south metro suburban hotel gave little hint as to the epic journey it had just completed. The blue and white…
The 2023 legislative session is off to a fast and furious start as new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate roll out their ambitious plans for Minnesota. One of…
America’s utility regulators are expecting power blackouts, if not this summer than next, for much of the nation. Here in the Midwest, the entity tasked with keeping the lights on…
The article below was written by Mark Kolbinger in the Patriot News. Sizzling temperatures have one again forced area residents inside to the comfort of their air conditioners, while questions…
The Star Tribune has finally said the “b-word:” blackouts. Several of our readers reached out to me over the weekend to share this article from the Star Tribune, entitled “Midwest,…
How diminished coal supplies and over-reliance on wind and solar could bring rolling energy blackouts to Minnesota.
The Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, MISO, is the regional electric grid that Minnesota belongs to. It consists of portions of 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. In late…
The U.S. and Canada famously share the longest undefended border in the world, more than 5,000 miles long. But you’d never know it by the aggressive posture Canada continues to…
The regional grid operator for Minnesota and 14 other states, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO), has declared a “Maximum Generation Emergency Warning” today due to unplanned outages, higher-than-normal temperatures,…
It’s been tough enough for Minnesota residents and businesses bordering Canada to make a go of it with the international crossing closed to nonessential travel due to COVID-19 for the…
The newly-completed transmission line bringing hydroelectric power from Canada would supply more renewable energy than all of Minnesota's solar facilities, combined. But none of this power will count as "renewable"…
I recently posted my testimony from Rochester on the Clean Energy First (CEF) bill currently circulating around the Minnesota State Senate. Today, I’ll elaborate on the good parts of the…
Last night, I drove down to Rochester to testify at a hearing on the Minnesota Senate’s Clean Energy First bill. As you will see in my testimony, this proposed legislation…
The news broke last Friday that Xcel Energy is proposing a massive 15.2 percent increase in their electricity prices to cover the company’s desire to spend $466 million over the…
In Canada, pressure against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax is mounting, as Manitoba did a sudden about-face on its intention to impose a $25-per-tonne carbon price this fall. The Canadian…