MN PUC Delays NTEC Gas Plant Decision
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- Minnesota Public Utilities Commission delayed its decision on whether to rescind approval of Minnesota Power's affiliated interest agreements for the NTEC gas plant, instead requesting more information on Minnesota Power's role in the project and status updates on negotiations with co-owners.
- Minnesota Power announced in December via PUC filing that it no longer plans to purchase power from NTEC, though the remaining co-owners may still move forward with construction and operations.
- Minnesota Power has until June 18 to submit a compliance filing with the PUC, while the ongoing delays leave uncertainty for ratepayers and the Superior, Wisconsin community.
- The Sierra Club, Clean Wisconsin, Healthy Climate Wisconsin, and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy coalition expressed disappointment and called on Dairyland to cancel the NTEC project entirely.
- Opponents cited high costs, toxic air pollution risks to lungs, heart, brain, and fetal development, and climate change contributions as reasons the fracked gas plant on the Nemadji River in Superior should be permanently scrapped.
Why it matters: The PUC's delay leaves Minnesota Power ratepayers in limbo over cost exposure from a gas plant the utility itself abandoned. With co-owners potentially advancing construction and a June 18 compliance deadline as the next checkpoint, Superior, Wisconsin communities face continued uncertainty about air pollution and rate impacts from a project every state-level environmental coalition is actively fighting.
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