Energy insider: ND sues MN
Minnesota passed the Next Generation Energy Act in 2007 which restricts pollution emissions on energy imported from outside the state. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is now suing Minnesota, claiming the law violates the commerce clause of the Constitution.
KMOT-TV
- November 4, 2011
Kevin Boughton
Watch the video: Energy insider: ND sues MN
North Dakota has one of the largest deposits of lignite coal in the world and a healthy supply of coal-fueled electricity, much of which it sells to Minnesota. Producers in North Dakota said it wasn’t a bad set-up until Minnesota passed the Next Generation Energy Act in 2007 which restricts pollution emissions on energy imported from outside the state. North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is now suing Minnesota, claiming the law violates the commerce clause of the Constitution. North Dakota’s Coal industry, already under scrutiny from the EPA, is now preparing for another fight, this time with neighbor Minnesota. A law passed there prohibits local utilities from importing electricity from a fossil fuel-fired powerplant in another state built after January first 2007.
“It is, really, future development that’s at risk here,” said Mike Eggl, Basin Electric Power Cooperative Senior Vice President External Relations & Communications.
Basin Electric said this law isn’t the end of their doing business in Minnesota; it just means that coal-fired energy will be locked out of the state and so they’ll have to find cleaner ways to produce electricity if they want to sell it in Minnesota. With 12 member utility companies across the state line, Basin Electric is worried that as consumer energy needs grow, finding ways to keep customer’s lights on without a new fossil fuel plant would cause prices to rise drastically.
“The question is, as our numbers grow in Minnesota, as the grow their energy needs, how are we going to provide that?” said Eggl. “If we’re going to provide it with base load energy at a reasonable price because of this law, we’re going to have to provide it at a higher cost.”
Something that Basin Electric believes will harm their ability to compete in Minnesota which is the focal point of the lawsuit North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed this week. Stenehjem claims that 2007 law favors new projects in Minnesota to the detriment of businesses in North Dakota.
“It’s not about trying to oppose positive environmental laws, it’s about opposing a law that arbitrarily is contrary to interstate commerce,” explained Eggl.
The Next Generation Energy Act does allow for import exemptions for facilities that offset their Carbon Dioxide emissions.
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1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will provide cost-effective wholesale energy along with products and services that support and unite rural America.
