By Rep. Paul Anderson
With Gov. Tim Walz signing legislation putting Minnesota on the track to totally carbon-free electric generation by the year 2040, it's becoming more evident the cost of this mandate is going to be high. In addition to the fact that green energy, itself, is more expensive because additional back-up power has to be figured in, there are other less-known factors that will also impact the price tag when all is said and done.
For starters, there will be a need for more transmission lines to bring power in from further away. Our grid must grow in size so the wind will be blowing somewhere to generate electricity. If it's not blowing here, for example, hopefully it is blowing in southwest Minnesota or central South Dakota or western North Dakota. Already plans are underway for the construction of a new line from the Buffalo Ridge in southwest Minnesota toward the Twin Cities. There is excess wind capacity there, and new transmission is needed to make full use of all that potential generation.
The construction of power lines is not cheap, and most folks would prefer that they not be built in their back yard. It also takes years to bring a new line into the system, beginning with the planning and permitting process, and finally the actual construction. Estimates range up to ten years or even longer to get a new transmission line from the drawing board to completion.
I serve on the Property Tax Division, and we have already heard bills that will provide state aid to the cities set to lose fossil-fuel power generating facilities. These plants, most of them coal-fired, are all scheduled to be shut down in the years ahead. The huge Xcel plant north of I-94 at Becker is an example. Its three burners are scheduled be shut down by the year 2030, and the city will then lose a significant portion of its tax base. They'll need assistance to make up for that loss of tax revenue, and they aren't the only municipality in that situation. The city of Cohasset in northern Minnesota, home of Minnesota Power's Boswell Energy Center, is in a similar situation. Its last two units are also scheduled to be shut down in the years ahead.
Then, there is the reliability factor. Because we are dismantling our traditional baseload sources of power and converting to intermittent renewables, interest from the public is high in back-up generating units for homes and businesses. Some electric co-ops are offering packages to their members to install these units. They range in size from 5KW and higher and will be wired to automatically switch "on" when the regular power supply goes down. In most cases, propane is the source of power for these stand-by generators.
*****
By most accounts, this has already been a long winter. Although the storm two weeks ago didn't live up to its dire predictions, we seem to be battling difficult driving conditions on a regular basis. The upper Midwest, in some locations, has received up to three times its average amount of precipitation this winter. On the positive side, our dry weather cycle may be moderating. The latest drought map shows our state is 57 percent abnormally dry, down from 61 percent the week before. And the snow we received early this winter has kept frost levels fairly shallow and, hopefully, most of the moisture will soak in rather than run off during the spring snowmelt.
*****
Just a couple of news notes: Emerald Ash Bore has been detected in Clay County in the city of Moorhead. That's the farthest north it's been found. ... And the EPA has given its approval to eight states, including Minnesota, to offer year-round sales of E-15 gasoline beginning in 2024. Nine states had applied for the waiver, with North Dakota the only one being denied.
-30-