Green Mandates Cost Minnesota Utility Customers $70 Million Last Year
“Right now we’re paying for wind we don’t need, we can’t use and can’t sell,” says Mark Glaess, Minnesota Rural Electric Association executive director.
Meaning that green power is like a self-licking ice cream cone. The government subsidizes its production, and then mandates demand for it even though there is really no room in the marketplace for it.
Going green cost rural electric ratepayers in Minnesota more than $70 million last year, according to the Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA). …
The Renewable Energy Standard (RES) passed by the 2007 Minnesota State Legislature directs electric utilities to ramp up their percentage of renewable energy sales to 25 percent by 2025. Put another way, one of every four kilowatt hours must come from renewable energy by 2025. Unlike many other states, Minnesota does not exempt coops and municipal utilities from complying with renewable energy standards.To meet the state’s escalating demands, rural electric co-ops and utilities locked in long-term “take or pay” contracts to purchase power from wind farms.
This is the green bubble, and it’s about to pop.
Tags: minnesota, subsidies, wind power
