Organizations celebrate major setback for NTEC gas plant, groups call on Dairyland Power Coop to cancel plans

SUPERIOR, Wis.- Today, in a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission filingby Minnesota Power, the company announced that it will withdraw from the proposed Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC) gas plant project, which it had been developing with Dairyland Power Cooperative (based in Wisconsin) and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (based in North Dakota). Minnesota Power had been a 50% owner and planned to build and operate the plant.

Last year, the co-owners withdrew their air permit from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for the 625 MW fossil gas project. The withdrawal happened after the City of Superior voted to deny local zoning permits necessary for the project to move forward. Local residents, Dairyland and Minnesota Power customers, Fond du Lac and Red Cliff Tribes, and environmental groups, including Sierra Club, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), Healthy Climate Wisconsin, and Clean Wisconsin, have been calling for a full project cancellation for years.

"This is the right step forward to protect air quality in Superior and the surrounding communities. NTEC was outdated almost as soon as it was proposed, and years of delays have underscored what a poor idea this is. There's no need for another new dirty, expensive gas plant in Wisconsin. All eyes are on Dairyland to cancel plans for NTEC once and for all as we transition to clean energy," said Elizabeth Ward, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Director.

"We are glad Minnesota Power has withdrawn from NTEC," said Evan Mulholland, Healthy Communities Program Director at MCEA. "NTEC would be bad for the climate, too expensive, harmful to public health, and it was proposed in the wrong location. MCEA encourages Dairyland Power Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative to abandon their plans to build and operate NTEC."

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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.