In a recent national and local story, natural gas has surpassed the use of coal as the #1 leading energy providing resource in the nation. This is due to the increased production of North American gas and new regulations limiting the use of coal in the country. How will that effect energy consumers and what effect will it have on the Sherco Power Plant in Becker?
Regional V.P. at Xcel Energy in Minneapolis Laura McCarten says very little will be affected by the recent findings.
“We support solar, wind and natural gas options for energy and one of significant steps we plan to see is for wind and solar production to be increased by at least 10% by 2030,” she said. “We are already a leader in delivering clean, renewable energy at an affordable price to our customers.”
At the beginning of the year, Xcel Energy offered a plan to the PUC that charts a path to more than double its renewable energy portfolio and deliver nation-leading carbon emission reductions, while maintaining a diverse energy mix that helps keep costs reasonable for customers. The proposal is outlined in the company’s 2016-2030 Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan.
“The state decided years ago they wanted an open process overseen by the Public Utilities Commission on how we plan for the next five years and beyond,” McCarten said. “Our #1 priority is to meet our customers’ needs first so we forecast and analyze and produce a plan to the PUC for approval.”
The plan is driven by achieving aggressive reductions in carbon emissions from 2005 levels – a 30 percent reduction by 2020 and a 40 percent reduction by 2030 – to meet expected federal carbon requirements.
The goal is to increase the renewable resources while running the big facilities less.
“We will always need to have our nuclear and coal plants because the renewables — wind and solar — are good but unstable as far as being reliable 100% of the time,” McCarten said. “Stability is the key. Gas and nuclear plants can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year at 100% power, so we’ll always need that option.”
McCarten says as of 2015, the use of coal meets about 35% of the consumable energy with nuclear at 30%, wind at 10% and solar and the rest of the energy resources (hydro, biomass, geothermal) equals 20%. By 2030, Xcel expects to see coal at around 29%, nuclear at 28%, wind at 25% and the rest at 8%.
“That way we are maintaining a diverse energy mix that helps keep costs reasonable for customers and meets the PUC requirements,” said McCarten.
State politicians who have diligently fought to sustain Sherco and the jobs it creates, also have opinions.
“It is good to have a variety of economical sources for generating electricity,” says Sen. Dave Brown of Becker. “Unfortunately, the EPA prefers to eliminate coal as one of our source options. Coal, along with natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear should continue to be sources for energy production in the U.S. The price of coal over the long term has much more stability than the price of natural gas.”
Rep. Jim Newberger — who just this past week was in Washington State for a four-day energy seminar — doesn’t want to see the elimination of the present state of energy production in Minnesota.
“Coal, is very reliable, very affordable and our nation has vast reserves which can last us up to 800 years at our current rate of consumption,” he said. “The price is stable.”
Newberger says reliability is the number one issue when it comes to energy.
“The lights and heat must stay on. Period.”
Newberger accepts the fact that natural gas has become a major component in the nation’s energy supply and he is hopeful Xcel decides to sustain Sherco and/or develop the area in Becker.
“At this time, there is a good chance that we may have a new gas power plant built here in Becker at the Sherco site,” he said. “I am hopeful that this will come to pass.”
As far as the environmentalists who keep pushing to close all coal-powered plants in the U.S.? Newberger has some news for them.
“Natural gas also produces carbon dioxide,” he said. “It does not produce as much as coal, but the fact remains. The current war on coal will simply shift to a war on gas.”
McCarten agreed that both produce carbon dioxide into the air.
“Natural gas produces about half of the amount of carbon that coal does,” she said. So, yes, the emissions are less.”
And Newberger agrees with McCarten that the energy company needs to stay diverse in its application.
“It does not make good fiscal sense to put all of our energy resources into one basket,” he said. “We need a healthy mix of coal, natural gas, hydro and nuclear to provide the foundation of our base load power supply. Solar, wind and biomass are good supplemental supplies.”
Newberger also worries that if the coal industry is neutralized, people will see natural gas hold a monopoly for power production in the country.
“Once that happens, the price is bound to go up.”
Beyond 2030?
McCarten says she can only speculate but she noted both nuclear power plants in Monticello and Prairie Island (two reactors) have licenses that expire in 2030, 2031 and 2032. She also said Xcel is looking at alternatives to the Sherco Power Plant as far as what the costs would be to convert the facility to natural gas or how costly it would be to run a huge gas line to it.
“It’s all a question of costs of one thing versus costs for another because as we all know, its the consumer who most likely will have to absorb those costs,” she said.
At the local government level, Becker — a city of about 4,800 people, will be hurt at the loss of jobs and municipal finances will plummet. Taxes paid by the power plant account for at least three fourths of the city’s $6 million annual budget.
Council Member Rick Hendrickson said, “If one or more existing units was replaced with natural gas, it still could result in lost jobs as coal-handling positions disappeared. The plant employs 275 workers.
“They get paid union, career wages,” Hendrickson said. “They all buy houses either in Becker or close to it.”
