Rebecca Kling, rebecca.kling@sierraclub.org
MAPLE GROVE, MN -- Earlier today, Great River Energy (GRE) announced that the utility would be selling its Coal Creek Station power plant to Rainbow Energy Center instead of retiring it as planned. Sierra Club had previously praised GRE for its plans to close Coal Creek -- which GRE had admitted was losing customers $170 million a year -- and replace it with lower cost renewable energy. In today’s announcement, GRE indicated that as part of the deal, it would be purchasing energy back from Coal Creek. Sierra Club previously raised several red flags with continuing to operate the plant, including concerns about the plant’s compliance with federal water and air protection laws. Today’s announcement left out important details about the specifics of the sale, and went against the democratic ideals of electric co-ops such as Great River Energy.
“This announcement leaves us with more questions than answers,” said Margaret Levin, Senior Chapter Director for the North Star Chapter in Minnesota. “There is no way it makes economic sense to install unproven carbon capture technology on a plant that is already bleeding tens of millions of dollars every year. This smells like a backroom deal that benefits the North Dakota coal lobby, not regular Minnesotans. It also sounds like Minnesota customers may remain on the hook for paying for power from this economic loser of a plant for years to come. We call on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and Attorney General to scrutinize this deal.”
“Co-op member owners are supposed to be active participants in the decision-making of their cooperative utility,” Levin continued. “Instead of receiving clarity from Great River Energy, member-owners have been given zero information about this deal even existing, and now it’s being announced as if it’s a done deal. Individual customers are entitled to have their voices heard before the sale is finalized. Coal Creek’s electricity is generated in North Dakota, but all of it is purchased by member-owners in Minnesota. Is this deal truly good for Minnesota member-owners who receive GRE power, or is it only good for North Dakota coal interests?”
“There’s every indication that GRE is being rushed to move this deal instead of holding for a better outcome,” said Jeremy Fisher, Senior Advisor at the Sierra Club. “The Biden administration announced that as part of the American Jobs Plan, it expected to be able to help rural electric cooperatives like GRE transition from high cost coal to lower cost clean energy programs. We’ve seen every indication that the administration plans on moving forward with that promise, but GRE’s move to sell the plant would preclude this opportunity. GRE isn’t transitioning from coal to clean here - it’s just passing the problem to somebody else, and losing the opportunity to benefit its customers with federal transition assistance.”
GRE’s announcement was also light on details for the future of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line that connects Coal Creek to Minnesota. The line was paid for by Minnesota ratepayers, who overwhelmingly want clean and renewable energy, but this sale appears to primarily benefit the North Dakota fossil fuel industry. These and other concerns--including how Rainbow Energy intends to make up the $170 million in annual losses that GRE previously reported from Coal Creek--have been difficult to address, given the lack of transparency surrounding the agreement reached between GRE and Rainbow Energy.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.