(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted as a press release by the Sierra Club. It has been edited by Patriot staff to include Xcel Energy’s response.)
Two weeks ago, community members from across Central Minnesota held a press conference demanding that Xcel Energy commit to 100% clean, renewable energy, to express opposition to building a new fossil gas plant and gas pipeline in Becker, and to remind the utility that Minnesotans are not “fossil fools.”
Natural Gas Plant
The Sierra Club expressed concerns over the new natural gas plant Xcel will be implementing.
“Through community and rooftop solar, through independent community wind farms, Xcel can ensure that homeowners and wind farms can benefit economically,” said Sue Hedtke, Monticello resident, Wright County Indivisible coordinator, grandma, and retired teacher.
“Instead, Xcel is proposing a massive fossil gas plant that would emit over three million metric tons of carbon a year! I am blessed to be a mother of four adult children and grandmother of nine beautiful grandchildren, and I fear for the earth and my grandchildren and others if something is not done now.”
Xcel Energy media relations representative Matthew Lindstrom submitted Xcel’s response to the Patriot, stating, “As we retire all of our coal plants in the region and add more renewables, we will continue to rely on our high performing nuclear plants and natural gas facilities to ensure we can meet our customers’ needs for electricity 24/7, in all weather conditions. We are currently continuing the process to build a natural gas plant at Sherco. This proposed plant will have about 90 percent fewer carbon emissions annually than the current coal plants and is critical to enabling us to close the coal plants early.”
Transition to Renewable Energy
The Sierra Club went on to ask that Xcel transition to renewable, clean energy.
“For the sake of our children and future generations, we must move to clean energy,” said Dr. Khaldoun Ahmad, St. Cloud Technical & Community College Environmental Science Professor.
“The evidence is clear that climate change is worsening because of greenhouse gasses, including methane that comes from burning fracked gas. Protect your kids, my kids, and our future generations, and focus on clean and renewable energy.”
Lindstrom replied, “we are implementing a plan to reduce carbon emissions 80% in the Upper Midwest and were the first major U.S. electricity provider to announce a vision of delivering 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. Today, we are more than halfway to that goal, having reduced carbon emissions 54% in the Upper Midwest since 2005. We’ll achieve these aggressive targets by retiring all our coal plants in the region by 2030, a decade ahead of schedule.”
Other Sierra Club advocates also spoke on this issue.
“Ever since I was young, I had an extreme passion for the outdoors,” said Clay Mewes, St. Cloud State University, junior Environmental Studies major, SCSU Environmental and Technological Studies Club president.
“I’ve backpacked through Mexico, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and hiked hundreds of miles in the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota. I’ve truly fallen in love with nature, maintaining it, and protecting it, from litter on the trails to pollution coming out of factories and power plants. In Minnesota, saving the earth starts with our power grid. One day, I want to show my child all the beauties of the natural world, like I had the opportunity to see. But decisions like this ‘natural’ gas plant dictate what we’ll be able to show them: Dark and polluted, or vibrant and bright. Minnesota, it’s our time to choose.”
“Focusing on renewable energy means that our money will stay in Minnesota, instead of purchasing coal and gas from other states, or even other countries,” said David Winkelman of Winkelman Sikar Developers. “Our small company has brought in over 10 million dollars of revenue from solar in the last five years, just around central Minnesota. Statewide, we are in the hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per year from solar. There are jobs right now for hundreds of people in solar in Minnesota, waiting to be filled.”
“The message could not be clearer,” said Jessica Trisch, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative with the Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign.
“Organizations and individuals across Minnesota are demanding that Xcel Energy commit to 100% clean, renewable energy, and make that transition as quickly as possible. Building a new fossil gas plant and pipeline jeopardizes the health and safety of all Minnesotans, of our natural environment, and of the climate itself.”
Xcel’s Matthew Lindstrom finished his response to the Sierra Club by stating, “We believe that we can cost effectively achieve an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 with the renewable and carbon-free generation and energy storage technologies available today. But focusing only on renewable energy like community solar and rooftop solar won’t get us there alone and won’t ensure the reliability and affordability our customers need, and our regulators require. Fulfilling our 2050 carbon-free aspirations will require new, dispatchable, carbon-free technologies that are available 24/7 in all weather conditions and those aren’t yet commercially available at the cost and scale our customers and communities need.”
