Now it can be told. The election is finally behind us, and we are switching to a new federal administration. Suddenly, heretofore unknown problems are bubbling up to the surface.…
Last week, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen released his 10-point plan for Northern Minnesota. Among his proposals was a plan to save the Boswell Energy Center, a 922-megawatt coal-fired power…
Yesterday, Minnesota Power announced it would be increasing the price of electricity on its system by 18 percent to pay for its voluntary pursuit of more renewable energy sources, resulting…
In May 2020, Great River Energy made a surprising announcement: It would close the Coal Creek Station — a large, 1,150-megawatt coal plant in North Dakota — if it could…
Last week, the regional electric grid operator, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator (MISO) declared an emergency, warning that the hot weather, unexpected power plant outages, and high demand was resulting…
Standing on the banks of the Mississippi River in Cohasset, Minnesota, the Boswell Energy Center is the most productive, lowest-cost source of electricity in the entire state. Because Minnesota’s mining…
Environmentalists’ call to shutter the Boswell Energy Center would devastate the Iron Range economy, with no measurable impact on future global temperatures.
Newly-released data from the United States Energy Information Administration show that electricity rates in Minnesota increased again in 2019, reaching new all-time highs. The increase in electricity costs affected all…
Last week, the Star Tribune ran a story about how the Coronavirus has disrupted the global solar panel supply chain, potentially causing the delay of two large solar installations in…
The following article was written by me, and it originally appeared in the Duluth News Tribune. Xcel Energy recently made headlines by announcing it wished to close down its coal-fired…
Will the utilities let Trump’s ACE rule help Minnesota’s miners and manufacturers?
Lori Sturdevant wrote an editorial in the Star Tribune last weekend about how Republican lawmakers should embrace "clean energy" or face certain disaster at the polls in the 2020 elections.…
Yesterday the Trump administration finalized the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, which is designed to improve efficiency at coal-fired power plants. As a result, these plants would produce more electricity…
Today marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of…
The State of Minnesota has gifted more taxpayer dollars to the solar industry. This time the subsidies take the form of a $3.5 million dollar state loan package that was…
You know there’s something really questionable about a regulation when both industry and environmental activists strongly oppose it. But that’s what happened with a controversial water quality proposal from the…
Iron Range mining, union and community leaders have their backs against the wall again, thanks to environmental activists and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. They say an unenforceable proposed MPCA…