On Thursday January 9, Tri-State, a Colorado electric generation and transmission cooperative utility announced they are closing two coal fired power plants in Colorado and New Mexico. This is big news - it removes 10.5 million annual tons of carbon dioxide emissions (the annual equivalent of 2.2 million cars!) and Tri-State customers are going to save a combined total of $56 million annually as Tri-State switches to cheaper, renewable energy sources.
“Great news for Colorado,” you might be thinking. “But what does this have to do with Minnesota?”
The first thing to know is that Tri-State is not just any utility: it's a cooperative. Every Tri-State customer is a partial owner of the company. And if you live in Greater Minnesota, chances are that your electricity comes from a coop akin to Tri-State: 33% of Minnesotans are cooperative utility member-owners - almost all of them in rural areas.
Many Minnesotans get their electricity from Xcel, a for-profit utility. If you’re an Xcel customer, imagine if you and all your neighbors actually owned Xcel, rather than Wall Street banks. Take a look at Xcel’s top shareholders: Vanguard, BlackRock, JPMorgan… not necessarily companies that have Minnesota’s best interests at heart!
On the other hand, in a cooperative utility like Tri-State, member-owners vote for the board of directors; contrast this to Xcel’s board, which reads as a who’s who of big business. And, in theory, any profit at a cooperative utility gets returned to members - unlike at Xcel, where profit goes to shareholders.
There’s one more complication: Tri-State is a cooperative of cooperatives. Tri-State produces electricity and transmits it to member distribution cooperatives, which then supply it to homeowners and businesses. In industry terms, Tri-State is a generation and transmission cooperative (G&T - no gin and tonic jokes, please) and its member coops are distribution cooperatives. Utility customers pay their bills to the smaller distribution coop - so customers may be members of a G&T coop without knowing it.
Belying their democratic promise, G&T coops like Tri-State have proven particularly recalcitrant when it comes to shutting down coal-fired power plants. It's taken public pressure to get them to move at all. Tri-State’s announcement came on the heels of a grassroots organizing campaign by the Sierra Club, pressure from business customers, and a rebellion by member cooperatives who are furious that Tri-State is clinging to expensive and dirty coal plants rather than transitioning to cheaper, cleaner renewable sources, like wind and solar.
But What About Minnesota’s Cooperatives?
Four generation and transmission cooperatives operate in Minnesota: Basin Electric, Dairyland Power, Minnkota Power and Great River Energy. Great River Energy (GRE) is the biggest G&T in Minnesota, providing power to 28 distribution coops. Remember - it's the distribution coops that show up on utility bills, not the G&T coops that produce electricity.
Just like Tri-State, Minnesota’s G&T coops rely on old, dirty, expensive coal fired power plants. Basin Electric runs three coal plants in North Dakota and Wyoming. Dairyland Power operates one in Wisconsin. And in North Dakota, Minnkota Power runs one and Great River Energy two.
The Coal Creek power plant, owned by GRE, emits almost the same amount of carbon dioxide as the two Tri-State plants now scheduled for closure: close to 10.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year (Pop quiz! How many cars worth of carbon dioxide emissions is that equivalent to?).
Coal plants are expensive too. The Rocky Mountain Institute found that if Tri-State transitioned all of its coal plants to clean renewable sources, its ratepayers would save a combined $600 million dollars a year!
Like Tri-State’s distribution coops, Minnesota distribution coops are chafing at the bad business and environmental decisions of their G&T cooperatives. Some of Great River Energy’s member coops are leading the way on renewable energy, investing in wind and new energy storage programs.
Member-owners are also angry that their coops are sticking with coal plants that cost them more and contribute to climate change, and they’re organizing with Clean Up the River Environment (CURE). Member-owners in Basin Electric are submitting comments to Minnesota regulators calling on Basin to transition to clean energy. GRE members are putting pressure from the ground up by organizing in coop elections.
Time for a Change
Since the January 9 announcement, Tri State has made further commitments to renewable energy - although the Sierra Club still has some questions for Tri State. Regardless, they’ve taken a big step forward by pledging to close two coal plants, in large part thanks to grassroots pressure from the Sierra Club and its partners in Colorado and New Mexico distribution coops.
Minnesota cooperative member-owners and distribution coops are also ready for change. Their G&T cooperatives - Basin, Minnkota, Dairyland and Great River Energy - should take note.
It's time to close down expensive, dirty coal plants and switch to renewable sources.
What Can You Do?
Take a look at your next electricity bill and see who supplies your power. Xcel Energy? Minnesota Power? One of Minnesota’s many co-op utilities? Knowing where your electricity comes from is a great way to understand how (or if!) renewable energy is powering your home, business, or community. Member-owners have a unique opportunity to provide feedback to their coops and demand cheaper, cleaner energy.
If you are one of the many Minnesotans who receive electricity through a co-op, check out this great story from MPR on cooperative elections. You can also contact your utility to learn if their power is generated from clean renewable energy or pollution-causing fossil fuels.
Regardless of who supplies your power, you can always join the Minnesota Sierra Club to help us ensure all Minnesotans have access to clean, reliable, renewable energy.