Published Oct. 12, 2003 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
In recent weeks we’ve seen lots of media coverage on the possibility of an $800 million federal loan guarantee for a proposed coal gasification power plan on the former LTV mine site in Hoyt Lakes. Supporters cite the hundreds of jobs and the needed electricity that will be produced.
What hasn’t been discussed publicly, at least not yet, is the environmental impact and future political battles over the transmission of the electricity to other parts of the state and country. Additionally, the issue of just who will buy this power needs to be cleared up. The company expected to buy the electricity, Xcel Energy of Minneapolis, recently questioned the viability of the proposed plant in media reports last week.
That’s a troubling development.
Building a new power plant is never easy or void of controversy. This doesn’t mean the Excelsior Energy project in Hoyt Lakes can’t be a positive thing for the region; it just means some important questions have to be answered and some alternatives should be considered.
The problem won’t be the facility. The LTV site is already very much an industrial setting well suited for a new power plant. Area communities have been very supportive of any endeavor that brings jobs to the Iron Range, so there will be little political opposition. Proponents are already armed with evidence that coal gasification is cleaner than traditional coal-fired power generation.
The problem with the Excelsior Energy power plant proposal isn’t the plant; it’s the transmission lines that will be necessary to export the electricity to the customers who need it.
Though it has gone largely unnoticed here on the Iron Range, a major battle is taking place right now in northern Wisconsin where residents are irate over the proposed construction of a high-power transmission line from Duluth to the Wausau area.
Among the fears are health concerns of the high voltage lines, the aesthetic effect on the natural setting and the large amount of eminent domain that would need to be declared along the way.
We can be reasonably sure that the East Range won’t consume the 2,000 megawatts that Excelsior hopes to churn out of the Hoyt Lakes plant, so transmission lines will be necessary. We can also be reasonably sure that a whole lot of people aren’t going to want those 2,000 megawatts humming over their homes in high-voltage power lines.
When we see officials from the private and public sectors address this concern, along with more specifics on the environmental impact, it will be a lot easier for people to support the project.
If public money is going to support this endeavor, we should also insist on using some alternative energy forms.
A Reuters News story published last week shows that a European company has developed an efficient solar power cell that could produce sun-generated electricity for an unprecedented $0.20 per watt. This would make solar power competitive with fossil fuel power sources for the first time ever. When you couple this with advances in wind power in just the last few years, we see exponential advances in alternative energy in the very near future.
What does this mean for the Iron Range? Maybe nothing … or maybe a whole heck of a lot.
If the region uses its wind potential (we’ve got high elevation along the Mesabi Range) and works to attract companies to produce these solar cells, we could for once be on the cutting edge of a growing industry. That means jobs. That means a future created by Iron Rangers for Iron Rangers … and cleaner air.
It’s a lofty dream, but one that is possible.
It’s not that we shouldn’t build a power plant in Hoyt Lakes. However, when you build a power plant you’re actually planning something that will last decades, not just years. If you can look forward and see that alternative energy generation will be the same price or even cheaper than fossil fuel power 20 years from now, you should do everything possible to utilize that technology.
Why should we gasify coal when it could be cheaper and cleaner to harness the wind and sun in the near future? You can dismiss alternative energy all you want, but the technology is coming whether you like it or not. When it gets here, you’re either going to be on board or left in the dust.
The Iron Range should be on board. This proposed power plant, even if it does rely on coal gasification, should include at least some forms of alternative energy as a contingent of its federal loan. That would make it a better project and lead to a better future for the Iron Range.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for The Daily Tribune.