FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2008
Contact:
Rick Fuentes, Fresh Energy
Mobile 612-741-0662,
Office 651-726-7572
fuentes@fresh-energy.org
Smokestack Implosion Symbolizes Xcel, Minnesota Moving to Cleaner Energy (St. Paul) – St. Paul’s coal-fired smokestack coming down is a true sign that Xcel Energy and Minnesotans are leaders in moving to clean energy, according to a coalition of energy and environmental advocates. Furthermore, St. Paul residents may be losing a landmark, but they’re gaining cleaner air, reliable power, and stable electric rates. The High Bridge power plant has been operating since 1923, and clean energy advocates were instrumental in assisting Xcel Energy with its Minnesota Metro Emissions Reduction Project (MERP). Three Xcel coal-fired power plants are part of the MERP plan to be retrofitted to reduce air pollution and increase plant capacity. The Allen S. King plant in Oak Park Heights continues to run on coal, but the High Bridge plant in St. Paul and the Riverside plant are being retooled with natural gas combined cycle units. Natural gas burns much cleaner and more efficiently than coal. "The implosion of the High Bridge stack neatly symbolizes the beginning of the end for coal-fired power,” said Christopher Childs, Conservation, Clean Air & Renewable Energy Co-Chair of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter. “In an age when the costly impacts of global warming are widely accepted, burning coal to generate electricity -- releasing massive amounts of additional carbon -- is simply an insane course of action. Huge advances in energy efficiency, along with a geometric increase in renewables, offer the obvious and increasingly accepted path for avoiding the most damaging impacts of global warming.” In addition to global warming pollution, coal-fired power plants release mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide, which result in poisoned lakes, acid rain, and visible soot in the atmosphere. When burned, coal is also the largest single contributor to global warming pollution in the form of tons of carbon dioxide emissions. “This signals a major shift in the way we produce energy,” said J. Drake Hamilton, Science Policy Director of Fresh Energy. “Reducing the use of dirty fossil fuels is one of the many global warming solutions we need to employ as we move toward a cleaner, 21st century energy system. Xcel Energy is showing that we can follow a responsible, common sense energy policy that moves us towards a healthier environment, strengthens our economy, and puts us on the path to energy independence.” As states and nations continue to pursue climate policy, utility companies face the inevitable cost of carbon. Xcel’s move toward energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural gas for peak-demand days will reduce costs to consumers on the front end. -30- Clean Energy Minnesota is a collaborative of Audubon Minnesota; Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota; Clean Up the River Environment; Fresh Energy; Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Izaak Walton League of America–Midwest Office; Land Stewardship Project; Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy; Minnesota Public Interest Research Group; Minnesota Project; Sierra Club North Star Chapter; and Union of Concerned Scientists. | 
