From the Minnesota Star Tribune,
Rising costs have Rochester debating whether to move back 100% renewable energy goal.
Say it ain’t so! A bit of background: Rochester is the largest city in Minnesota to operate it’s own (municipal) electric utility. The city utility is not regulated by the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) but ultimately by the city council.
The city has pushed for net-zero renewable energy by 2030, but volatile pricing has officials thinking about delaying key projects and contracts.
it appears that the city is giving residents a clear choice,
[R]esidents would have to eat a 6% electric rate increase next year and likely weather similar increases through the end of this decade. Or residents can have an average of a 4% rate increase for the next few years and Rochester likely won’t get to hit its renewable energy goals until 2040.
2040 is the year the state has set a goal for 100 percent clean energy. Accelerating that timeline by a decade would impose more costs on Rochester energy consumers. Rubber meets road.
The city will conduct some sort of public survey later this year. But the decision is ultimately up to the city council. The City of Rochester has a seven-member city council. In turn, the utility (Rochester Public Utilities, RPU) is governed by a five-member board that includes a sitting city council member.
Digging deeper into the controversy, the rising costs hinge on the city’s decision to go-it-alone on power supply. The city produces some of its own power, but relies on a power agency (called the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, SMMPA) for the rest.
To facilitate Rochester’s 100 percent renewable dream, the city decided to end the contract with SMMPA in 2030. Local radio KROC reports on the consequences,
Electric Rates in Rochester Could Rise 30% Over 5 Years.
KROC explains why,
The Rochester Public Utilities Board was recently presented with a budget recommendation that reflects hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing costs, largely associated with plans to replace electrical power purchased from the Rochester-based Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency will when RPU’s decade-long contract with SMMPA ends in 2030. The RPU Board last week was given a presentation that highlighted the multiple factors that have made the shift away from SMMPA much more costly than previously estimated.
Long story short, 100 percent renewable is way more expensive than the city’s current conventional power supply.
We’ve been told for decades now that the opposite is true. But with massive federal subsidies for renewable energy coming to an end, the true cost of renewables is now revealed. And it’s unaffordable.
