NEW Sierra Club Report: Basin Electric Fails Again on Clean Energy Transition

Bismarck, N.D. - Today, the Sierra Club released its annual Dirty Truth Report, which grades 75 utilities across the country on their plans to retire coal plants by 2030, not build new gas plants through 2035, and transition to clean energy through 2035. This report shows that-despite the utility's promises-Basin Electric Power Cooperative is still overwhelmingly not planning for the clean energy transition. Now, North Dakotans are facing the consequences of a grid reliant on polluting fossil fuels, which include dirtier air from haze and dirtier water from coal ash pile groundwater pollution, in addition to higher energy bills.

This year, as with every year since Sierra Club began its Dirty Truth Report in 2021, Basin Electric scored an F. Specifically, Basin Electric earned its fourth consecutive 0% score-a score it has received ever since getting a meager 4% in 2021. Faced with rapidly increasing demand projections, Basin Electric is failing to meet this critical moment by championing affordable renewable energy. Instead, the utility is backsliding on its commitments and doubling down on fossil fuels. Earlier this summer, Basin Electric approved a massive $4 billion gas plant projectin spite of the availability of more affordable and cleaner alternatives.

Across all 75 utilities, utility companies scored an aggregate of 15 out of 100 points, earning a composite grade of an F. This marks the lowest score since the first year of this report in 2021, and the first time the score has ever dropped below the inaugural report.

In an interactive webpage, users can see their utility's score and what progress-if any-the utility has made toward transitioning to cleaner, more affordable energy since the first version of the report in 2021.

"As North Dakotans deal with surging electricity prices, Basin Electric is once putting dirty and costly fossil fuel plans ahead of cheap, reliable sources of renewable energy," said Todd Leake, Chair of Sierra Club's North Dakota Chapter. "Basin is spending billions more on gas, tying people across the state to a rapidly fluctuating marketplace instead of investing in reliable and consistently affordable energy sources. Still, we aren't surprised that the same company that's trying to remove itself from federal oversightisn't being transparent with stakeholders or the public. Basin has consistently dodged questions over who this project will benefit, who will bear the cost, and whether the new power generation will go to massive data centers instead of everyday families, who, as co-op members, end up paying for the new plant and infrastructure. North Dakotans deserve a utility company that's committed to making energy affordable and abundant for generations to come."

"It is alarming that for the first time since 2021, utilities are regressing on their clean energy transition," said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. "By adding more gas and keeping costly coal plants online, utility companies are ignoring renewable energy-the cheapest form of energy-and forcing their customers to pay more. As energy costs rise and extreme weather becomes more frequent, now is the time to phase out polluting, volatile, expensive fossil fuels and invest in stable, reliable, and affordable, clean energy."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.