CapX 2020 facilitates coal

1. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Carol A. Overland Utility Regulatory Attorney www.legalectric.org

2. CapX 2020 facilitates coal There is no electricity crisis! Yet some claim that we need 3,000-6,300MW of new generation by 2020… … where do they get this idea? CapX 2020!!!

3. CapX 2020 facilitates coal That claim of 3,000-6,300MW “need” comes from the CapX2020 report, p. 1 Anticipated load growth of 2.49 percent annually from 2009 through 2020, for an increase of 6,300 megawatts… Load growth of 6,300 would require over 8000MW of new generation, given losses that occur when transmitting electricity, electricity service to generation stations, and planning reserve margins of 15 percent to ensure reliability. That’s a lot of new 500MW coal plants!

4. CapX 2020 facilitates coal 6,300MW estimate is for the REGION It’s not Minnesota! It’s MN, western WI, eastern ND & SD and odd parts of Iowa. And they’re leaving out an important point…

5. CapX 2020 facilitates coal When they said we “need” 6,300 (or 8,000)MW, there was 16,712MW in the MISO queue in the same region! Now there’s even more -- 16,000MW of coal alone – and lots of other generation too

6. CapX 2020 facilitates coal What they also forget to tell you is that: MAPP region demand was up only 0.6% and we’ve over built in the region - NERC Reliability Assessment 2005 Proof: Xcel’s IRP = 375MW in 2015 Mandate (w/conditions) Mesaba Will have to mandate renewables There is no market – no high demand

7. CapX 2020 facilitates coal And the wind promoters aren’t saying: • ALL electric markets are down • Where’s the market? Illinois has over 8,000MW of wind in queue • Why would eastern markets buy wind energy plus pay cost of transmission? • 30% line loss from Buff Ridge to Metro (41% availability less 30% loss = 29%)

8. CapX 2020 facilitates coal We’re in a non-crisis situation where we can carefully pick our generation Generation in the public interest Generation in compliance with mandates Generation that makes us breathe easier Generation we can live with

9. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Q: How does CapX2020 facilitate coal? A: Very well!

10. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Thirty years ago, the legislature put us on the renewable track: The legislature finds and declares that continued growth in demand for energy will cause severe social and economic dislocations, and that the state has a vital interest in providing for: increased efficiency in energy consumption, the development and use of renewable energy resources wherever possible, and the creation of an effective energy forecasting, planning, and education program. Minn. Stat. 216C.05

11. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Minnesota has a statutory preference for distributed generation and renewable energy: • Distributed Generation Minn. Stat. §216B.2411; 216B.2426 • Preference for renewable energy Certificate of Need Minn. Stat. §216B.243, Subd. 3(a); see also 216B.2422, Subd. 4; 216B.2423; 216B.2424; 216B.164, Subd. 4(b)

12. CapX 2020 facilitates coal From charge to Legislative Electric Energy Task Force: The highest priority in electric energy production and consumption is conservation of electric energy and management of demand by all segments of the community. The following energy sources for generating electric power distributed in the state, listed in their descending order of preference, based on minimizing long-term negative environmental, social, and economic burdens imposed by the specific energy sources, are: (1) wind and solar;(2) biomass and low-head or refurbished hydropower;(3) decomposition gases produced by solid waste management facilities, natural gas-fired cogeneration, and waste materials or byproducts combined with natural gas;(4) natural gas, hydropower that is not low-head or refurbished hydropower, and solid waste as a direct fuel or refuse-derived fuel; and(5) coal and nuclear power. (Minn. Stat. 216C.051)

13. CapX 2020 facilitates coal So how did we get to where we are? The 2005 Transmission Omnibus Bill… … horrible policy that opened the door to coal …but it started long before, with the report of the Wisconsin Reliability Assessment Organization (WRAO)

14. CapX 2020 facilitates coal • In 1998, WRAO considered a web of transmission across Minnesota into Wisconsin, and chose the Arrowhead Transmission Line as THE solution to their perceived problems • CapX2020 has proposed many of the rejected WRAO options

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17. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Note Big Stone II relies on the SW CapX line!

18. CapX 2020 facilitates coal pssssssssst… S.Falls - Lakefield Jct. isn’t for wind. Xcel’s engineer testified that only 213-302 MW from Buff Ridge goes into that 2085MVA line at Nobles!

19. CapX 2020 facilitates coal PIIC and Red Wing are the communities most affected by CapX2020 – 3 lines!

20. CapX 2020 facilitates coal They “forgot” to connect it all in the close-up The PUC put it back together, acknowledged it’s connected, by adding the blue section to the Notice Plan

21. CapX 2020 facilitates coal CapX2020 affects 200,000 landowners Here’s where it goes over Prairie Island – the magenta lines coming in, going around/through the reservation, and out to the south

22. CapX 2020 facilitates coal CapX2020 affects 200,000 landowners Its next stop is Red Wing’s new Westwood subdivision

23. CapX 2020 facilitates coal From the coal fields of ND to MN and beyond:

24. CapX 2020 facilitates coal What can we do to close door to coal? • Conservation is #1 priority • Increase solar incentives to cut peak • Site wind strategically, near gas plants • Utilize existing and unused transmission • Utilize unused transmission reservations • Do the hard work to revamp electricity system - eliminate dependence on coal

25. CapX 2020 facilitates coal What can we do to close door to coal? • Repeal authorization of TRANSLink type transmission company found in Minn. Stat. §§216B.02, Subd. 10; 216B.16, Subd. 7c; 216B.2425, Subd. 2; • Keep focus on Minnesota need, not “regional” as in Minn. Stat. §§216B.2421, Subd. 3(3),(9); • Remove special transmission perks such as Minn. Stat. §§216B.2425, Subd. 7(b); • Incentives for Minnesota generation – add “Minnesota generated” to Minn. Stat. §§216B.243, Subd. 8(7);

26. CapX 2020 facilitates coal What can we do to close door to coal? • Return Siting & Routing authority to EQB Minn. Stat. §§116C.52, Subd. 2,3; 116C.53, Subd. 2; 116C.57, Subd. 1,2(c); 116C.575; 116C.577; 116C.58; et seq. • Amend Minn. Stat. §§116C.57, Subd. 9 to provide Intervenor Compensation to facilitate public participation and give priority to public interest over the influence of special interests

27. CapX 2020 facilitates coal Agencies need resources to do the job: • Minn. Stat. §§116C.57, Subd. 9; 216B.243, Subd. 4,5,7; 216C.052 • 216B.65 DEPARTMENT TO EMPLOY NECESSARY STAFF. The department may employ experts, engineers, statisticians, accountants, inspectors, clerks, hearing examiners who may be attorneys and employees it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of Laws 1974, chapter 429. SERIOUS PROBLEM: Commerce and PUC staff are so swamped now that they’ve invented and are using an informal process not authorized by law

28. There’s no need to facilitate coal There is no electricity crisis We can carefully pick our generation Generation in the public interest Generation in compliance with mandates Generation that makes us breathe easier Generation we can live with