Xcel Energy — long criticized by environmentalists as catalysts to pollution throughout the state — has come to an agreement to bridle emissions at their Sherco Power Plant in Becker.

 

The agreement will help resolve a long-standing lawsuit brought about  in 2012 by a half a dozen environmental groups including the Voyageurs National Park Association, Fresh Energy, the Sierra Club and Friends of the Boundary Waters.

 

Groups from the Sierra Club’s brawny Beyond Coal advocacy had been tenacious in fighting to get the plant shut down by 2020, urging Xcel Energy to retire two of its coal-powered generators at the utility's largest Midwest power plant.

 

Sherco runs three units. Units 1 and 2 were built in the 1970s and a third coal-fired unit was built in 1987.

 

Xcel Energy said they’ve done a recent $50 million upgrade to controls known as scrubbers on the two older generating units and planned modifications to a newer generator will reduce the Sherco plant’s sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 50 percent by 2017.

 

Congress established the basic structure of the Clean Air Act in 1970  to combat a variety of air pollution problems, and to tackle emerging pollution threats. They made major revisions in 1977 and 1990. They also added special protections for parks and wilderness areas to the Clean Air Act in 1997.

 

The U.S. Interior Department — the parent agency of the National Park Service and petitioner of the lawsuit — declared in 2009 that Sherco units 1 and 2 were the source of air pollution affecting the Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. The environmentalist groups also contend that visi­bility in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness also is hurt by Sherco smokestack emissions.

 

The EPA and Xcel have disputed that finding, but Xcel Energy has been under fire by the Public Utilities Commission to propose a plan to eliminate or decrease the reliance on coal over the next 15 years.

 

Xcel has proposed keeping Units 1 and 2, running them less and investing more in solar and wind energy. 

 

According to Xcel’s findings, it would cost about $1.7 billion to replace units 1 and 2 with combined-cycle natural gas equipment. Installing top-shelf pollution control equipment, a technology called “selective catalytic reduction,’’ in both units would cost nearly $400 million. Either move would have a significant impact on customer rates. 

 

Sherco has the capacity to generate 2,225 megawatts of electricity from its three coal-fired units and is the backbone of Xcel's fleet of plants. Sherco  employs approximately 370 people, of which 300 are fulltime employees and 70 are contractors.

 

The tax revenues from Sherco comprise approximately 75% of the city of Becker’s budget, making it the primary source of revenue for the city. Absent this tax revenue, the city would have to significantly increase the tax rate, which would likely shift the tax base from industrial taxpayers to residential and commercial taxpayers.

 

Beyond Coal and the Sierra Club are well-funded and have already been instrumental in shutting down over 150 power plants since 2010 across the United States. 

 

Retirement of Units 1 and 2 would also impact Liberty Paper.

 

Liberty Paper is a private company that operates a paper mill adjacent to the Sherco facility and employs approximately 135 people.

 

Built in 1994, the mill was sited there specifically for the steam supply from Units 1 and 2. If Units 1 and 2 are retired, Liberty Paper must produce an alternative source of steam or cease operations. While the option may exist to install a boiler in the mill, the cost would be significant and beyond what Liberty Paper anticipated when agreeing to locate in Becker.

 

The company estimates  they would need three years advance notice to design, permit and install a boiler. If Liberty Paper is forced to close or relocate due to the economics of replacing the steam from Sherco 1 and 2, the impacts to the Becker community will be compounded.

 

Xcel Energy said they were granted approval by the Federal Aviation Administration to function small, unmanned drones at low altitude in less-populated regions and within an operator’s line of sight.

 

The operators likely would use the drones to inspect hard-to-reach and environmentally sensitive areas.

 

 One likely use will be to assess damage to power lines after storms and the company first plans to study the best uses of the technology and then conduct trials, probably this summer. Drones equipped with cameras and sensors may have a range of uses, including detecting leaks on natural gas pipelines, Michael Lamb, vice president of operating services for Xcel said.

 

“We don’t know how we are going to use drones yet,” he said.

 

Lamb said Xcel recently flew a drone inside a massive boiler at the Sherco power plant to inspect interior components without sending workers inside.

 

Xcel is one of nearly 400 companies approved by the FAA for commercial drone use. The Minneapolis-based utility plans to use an electric-powered drone with eight rotors. It will fly at less than 57MPH, operate for just 30 minutes or until its batteries drain to 25 percent and go no higher than 400 feet, according to FAA filings.