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Pipestone County Commissioners during their Oct. 28 meeting approved a resolution joining the Minnesota Nuclear Energy Alliance (MNEA) in supporting the repeal of Minnesota’s moratorium on nuclear energy production.
According to state statute, the Public Utilities Commission “may not issue a certificate of need for the construction of a new nuclear-powered electric generating plant.” A certificate of need is required for such facilities to be built.
Pipestone County Administrator Steve Ewing said Sherburne County is sending information to all counties in the state looking for support for nuclear energy. He said this was also discussed at a recent Association of Minnesota Counties meeting.
“At this time they’re just looking for support from all the counties to do a resolution urging the repeal of Minnesota’s moratorium on nuclear energy production, so this would obviously have to go back to the state, and the governor to see if they would do that,” Ewing said.
The resolution approved by the Commissioners cites a projected increase in electrical power need, increased reliance on carbon-free energy production and decreasing dependence on fossil fuel-based energy production, and Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard that requires electric utilities to provide 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040. The resolution also indicates that the Pipestone County Board “welcomes earnest consideration of Sherburne County for siting of such new nuclear power generation facility.”
A letter signed by Sherburne County Board Chair Gary Gray that was presented to the Commissioners indicates that the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners conceptually supports locating a nuclear energy production facility in Sherburne County. The letter indicates that Sherburne County is already home to Xcel Energy’s Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco) and almost 1,000 megawatts in solar power production.
According to information from the Minnesota Nuclear Energy Alliance that was presented to the Pipestone County Commissioners, a typical home uses about 11 megawatt hours of energy in a year, and it would take 3.5 ounces of uranium and 1.5 tons of coal to produce that amount of energy. It also indicates that the used nuclear fuel from one person’s entire lifetime of energy use would fit into one pop can.
The Minnesota Nuclear Energy Alliance is a coalition of organizations — including members who represent utilities, labor unions, environmental advocates, businesses, and others — committed to advancing nuclear power as a reliable solution to meet Minnesota’s energy needs and achieve carbon-free goals, according to its website at mnnuclearenergyalliance.org.