By Ken Francis, Staff Writer

 

The Sherburne County Board Tuesday selected two commissioners to represent the county in discussions regarding the future of Great River Energy.

In April, Matt Herman, plant manager of the Elk River Resource Recovery Project, told the commissioners the plant lost over $11 million in 2017 and has been losing money consistently over the past few years. The plant burns municipal waste to generate energy.

Herman said their board of directors was scheduled to meet in July to talk about options.

Tuesday, Sherburne County Solid Waste Administrator Dave Lucas said Great River Energy’s board of directors met July 12 and voted to pursue a parallel path of either selling the Elk River Resource Recovery Project to Anoka, Hennepin and Sherburne counties, or closing their doors. GRE intends to terminate their operation by mid-January 2019.

The board selected Commissioners Lisa Fobbe and Tim Dolan to represent the county in discussions with Anoka and Hennepin counties about the possibility of public ownership of the GRE project.

The board also approved language in a letter to the other two counties requesting a sit-down to talk about the situation. Some of that letter stated:

“We realize that there are numerous questions, unresolved issues and financial considerations that need to be addressed before any of our counties can fully contemplate a decision of possible public ownership. Further, GRE has not given us much time to properly evaluate this process. Rather than continuing to assess this among ourselves, our board believes it would be best to meet jointly with staff and members of each of your county boards to further consider GRE’s proposal for public ownership.”

Lucas said Anoka County has arranged to hold that meeting Monday.