Wisconsin, Minnesota Communities Voice Opposition to Gas Plant Proposed at Superior PSC Hearing

SUPERIOR, WI -- This week, advocates from both Wisconsin and Minnesota testified in opposition to the Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC) gas plant proposed for construction in Superior, just two miles from the Minnesota border. The plant, proposed by Minnesota Power and Dairyland Power, has already been approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and must now get approval from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC). At the hearing teenagers, seniors, residents of Wisconsin and Minnesota, including members of the Fond du Lac, Red Cliff, and Bad River Bands spoke in opposition to the plant. Testifiers raised concerns about climate change, treaty violations, the safety risks of being near the Husky Refinery, and the potential impact on Lake Superior. The project’s financial cost as well as climate and local environmental impacts were chief concerns among those in opposition.

Izzy Laderman a high school student from Duluth, MN, said, “The United Nations has told us we only have 10 years left before the climate crisis is irreversible. Fossil fuels are the main contributor to the climate crisis, and you want to add more?” 

If constructed, NTEC would cost customers an estimated $700 million, a point of opposition because expert studies show that the gas plant is unnecessary to meet the power system needs it was designed for. Dairyland Power and Minnesota Power could more cheaply meet customer needs with common-sense energy efficiency and renewable, home-grown energy.

Elizabeth Ward of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sierra Club said, "Dairyland and Minnesota Power have invented a need for the proposed NTEC facility, while ignoring the significant detrimental impacts it will have on local and global health and the environment. It's not only setting us up for a stranded asset, but Wisconsin will pay the cost for the risks to our water, health, and future. Approval of this plant would lock Wisconsinites into decades of covering the cost of this plant and set back renewable development in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota for years to come.  The public and communities have made it clear that this plant is a bad deal."

Sierra Club and other groups raised concerns about the environmental impacts of the proposed plants, especially as the PSC decided not to consider the full scope of climate impacts. Others, including the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, also oppose the proposed plant, raising concerns about the impact on local wetlands and the larger climate. In this process, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has raised concerns about impacts to groundwater supply due to the large amount of water needed to operate the plant.

Dairyland Power needs the Commission to approve its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application. As part of this decision, the Commission is tasked with analyzing, among other factors, whether the proposed facility will have an undue adverse impact on the environment and whether the design and location of the proposed facility is in the public interest.