MN Power Ordered to Continue Investigating Alternatives to New Gas Plant

Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission has rejected Minnesota Power's plan to build a new gas plant to meet future electricity demand. Instead, regulators ordered the utility to keep looking at other ways to keep the grid reliable, including clean energy resources. The gas plant wasn't going to be needed until 2035, and critics argued locking in that choice now, nine years early, would leave customers paying for it at a time when gas plant costs have risen sharply.

For homeowners served by Minnesota Power, this decision is mostly about what does not happen to your electric bill rather than something you need to act on. A gas plant built now would have been paid for by customers over decades, even as cheaper, cleaner options like batteries and other clean energy technology are expected to become more cost-competitive well before 2035. By pushing the utility to keep studying alternatives, the commission is trying to avoid locking ratepayers into a costlier, higher-emission choice.

The order also requires Minnesota Power to be more transparent about large new electricity users, such as data centers, moving into its service area, and to make better use of energy efficiency and demand response (programs that reduce or shift electricity use at peak times) in its planning. Minnesota law already requires utilities to provide 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, and this decision keeps more paths open for the utility to meet that deadline without relying on carbon offsets or expensive carbon capture equipment. Minnesota Power must revisit its long-term energy plan, which utilities are required to update every two years, to reflect this direction.