DULUTH – State regulators correctly found a proposed $700 million natural gas plant in Superior, Wis., is necessary and "serves the public interest better than a renewable-resource alternative," the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
Duluth-based Minnesota Power won approval in 2018 from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to supply power from the plant, but environmental groups have challenged that decision and said Monday they will "continue to push to block the development of the plant."
The Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC) would generate at least 525 megawatts of power and is a joint venture between Minnesota Power and Wisconsin's Dairyland Power Cooperative; the utilities hope to have the plant online by the middle of the decade.
In April the Minnesota Supreme Court found that further environmental review is not needed on the plant but instructed the appeals court to decide whether the commission's decision to approve the utility's stake in the project "was supported by substantial evidence."
The appeals court concluded in Monday's ruling that "substantial evidence supports the commission's determination that NTEC best serves the public interest" and provides "a more reliable and lower cost (including environmental costs) source of energy than the equivalent renewable resources."
Minnesota Power, which is shutting or converting its last remaining coal plants by 2035 and receives half of its energy from renewable sources currently, said the plant emits less carbon than coal and is needed to replace coal and keep the lights on when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.
Without the plant, the utility would likely need to buy power from the market and drive up costs for customers in order to maintain reliability in the grid, the ruling said.
Environmental groups and other opponents say no new fossil fuel plants should be built in the face of climate change, and the plant could drive up electric rates.
