PREETY YONJON

ST. CLOUD

Price tag for the needed upgrades to two of three coal-burning generators will be $50 million-plus

Growing bank of studies shows good potential for a change in primary energy generation for Minnesota

Growing bank of studies shows good potential for a change in primary energy generation for Minnesota

Xcel Energy's Sherburne County Generation Station in Becker is the biggest coal-fired generating plant in the state and also the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants. Known as Sherco, it has three coal-burning generators.

Sherco 1 and 2 need upgrades that will cost about $50 million, or considerably more if a current Environmental Protection Agency study result requires more extensive upgrades to clear haze in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Isle Royale National Park. Sherco 3 has recently come back online after an upgrade and subsequent fire shut it down for 22 months.

Like all coal, Sherco coal has an incredibly dirty and dangerous life cycle: Strip mined in the Western United States, then transported to the power plants by rail, burned and emitted from smoke stacks and finally disposed of as toxic coal ash. Coal damages human health and our environment though few of these costs show up in the price of electricity on your electric bill.

We're fortunate in Minnesota to have clean energy alternatives in wind and solar. And we have lots of both. Just 16 percent of our electricity is wind sourced, but according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Minnesota has a potential of 160 times that, 26 times our current electric usage.

Wind energy is clean, renewable and now cheaper than coal. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that for new, unsubsidized electric generation that first comes online in 2019, the cradle to grave cost will be $95.60 per megawatt hour for coal, but just $80.30 per megawatt hour for wind. That is without counting those unbilled externalized costs for coal mentioned above.

Minnesota wind is dependable, too. A study released recently by the Minnesota Department of Commerce shows that with transmission upgrades, our electric energy mix could include up to 40 percent renewable energy (wind and solar) by 2030 while reliably meeting power demands.

Minnesota has solar capacity similar to Texas and Florida, and our Legislature has set a solar energy goal of 10 percent by 2030. More studies emerge almost weekly that prove we have options for a clean energy economy here in Minnesota.

Early next year the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will review Xcel Energy's plans for Sherco 1 and 2.

We call on Xcel to do the right thing, invest in wind and solar energy and shutdown Sherco 1 and 2 rather than upgrading. We encourage you to do the same.

Write to Xcel Energy, 414 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Also write to the Public Utilities Commission, 121 Seventh Place E, Suite 350, St. Paul, MN 55101, and ask it to consider all the costs and alternatives when it reviews Xcel's plans.

Many are rightly concerned about job losses should Sherco 1 and 2 be shut down. They should recognize that coal-burning power plants are a dying industry, and encourage Xcel Energy to help retrain workers for jobs in the new clean energy economy, which will support more long-term jobs, keep more of our energy dollars in the state (Minnesota has no coal, gas or oil resources), and protect the health of our environment and our residents.

The future of coal in our country and our state has been clear for some time, the age of dirty fossil fuels is coming to a close, and we need to prepare now for clean energy in our state.

Preety Yonjon is a graduate student at St. Cloud State University and Sierra Club volunteer. William Haider is retired and a local volunteer organizer for the Sierra Club whose household electricity is 100 percent solar and wind sourced.