The rise of natural gas-fired power was long welcomed — or at least accepted — by both utilities and clean-energy groups. Gas vanquished coal, cutting both carbon dioxide emissions and wholesale electricity costs.
But to renewable-energy advocates, gas' days are numbered — at least as far as building big power plants such as the one Xcel Energy is planning in Becker, Minn.
They say an emission-free combination of new wind and solar — coupled with a fleet of grid batteries for power storage — is cheaper and just as reliable as a new gas plant.
"If we want to take climate change seriously, we can't build new fossil-fuel plants," said Ellen Anderson, climate program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. "The time has come to move on from fossil fuels."
Not so fast, say Xcel and for that matter the utility industry: Gas will be needed for some time to ensure grid reliability, particularly as coal plants close.
"Natural gas is the right fuel to bridge us into the future and integrate renewables into the system," said Christopher Clark, Xcel's president for Minnesota. "This is a major transition, and it's important to do it in a way that respects affordability and reliability."
The debate over Xcel's gas plant promises to get hotter this year.
The legislature and then-Gov. Mark Dayton bypassed the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and approved Xcel's roughly $800 million plant four years ago.