Midnight in the halls of Iron Range power

I didn't think Excelsior Energy could go a whole legislative session without deploying its vast lobbying force for something. Recently, in the tax bill conference committee, State. Sen. Tom Bakk inserted language that extends the property tax exemptions from 2010 to 2012 for everyone's favorite black hole of government giveaways and special favors. Excelsior is the company proposing the Mesaba Energy Project, a coal gas power plant intended for the Iron Range. The project enjoys great political support from most elected officials, is deeply misunderstood by the population at large, and will almost certainly break the hearts of the people of the Iron Range at some point in the next decade.

I'm tired of talking about carbon sequestration, private financing, lobbyists and lawyers and all the other things I rail about when I post about Excelsior. Let me try to explain why I care about this.

The first problem I have with this project is that it exists only because, starting in 2002, a group of lobbyist/lawyers succeeded in getting officials in Minnesota (and the Iron Range in particular) to give them vast amounts of money and favors. There was little debate, very little questioning of this so-called company. There was certainly no discussion about whether the tens of millions of state and Iron Range dollars and hundreds of millions of federal dollars could be better spent in other ways. We were told this was simply a "jobs" project, and that's all Range lawmakers needed to hear in 2002 when it looked like the whole mining industry was falling apart. We were told 1,000 jobs would come from this, when anyone in the power industry could have told them that only about 100-200 permanent jobs could ever come from such a project. In short, the project was built on desperation and deception.

My second problem with this is related to a much larger issue. Who is in charge on the Iron Range? Are the people and their elected representatives in charge? Or is it developers, lobbyists and consultants? Because the Range is doomed if it's the latter. We will only survive this fast-changing transition to the global economy if our elected leaders use judgment in defending the interests and resources of the people ahead of the interests of those who offer lofty promises in exchange for free rein over laws and public coffers. The leaders of Excelsior Energy walked onto the Iron Range pretending to be a group of native Rangers interested in "saving" the region. But their business model has been to clearly and forcibly shift risk from their ledgers onto that of the taxpayers, to promise more jobs than they could deliver and to mischaracterize the nature of the technology they tout, making a science experiment seem like a sure thing.

Meantime, the $9.5 million that the Iron Range gave this company (ostensibly as a loan, but the language clearly implies that we'll never see that money again) could have built a new school. It could have almost met the state match on the federal highway money that could have finally -- after FIFTY years -- finished the cross-Range Highway 169. City sewers. Rural broadband. Streets and roads. All of these real needs were put behind the needs of lobbyists.

Excelsior Energy has acted as though it owns the Iron Range and is entitled to its mineral monies and special treatment. As long as the status quo continues, Excelsior and any half-rate pack of wolves that comes along DOES own the Range. They WILL extract our resources and push our local, county and state officials around like cattle. Every midnight conference committee will contain favorable language for developers at the expense of the regular Iron Range people who mined the ore that funded the whole enterprise. And when the money's gone, the wolves will be gone. No jobs. And people like me and my kids will be sitting around wondering what to do next.

So I will talk about this as often as is necessary. I will post commentaries like this every week, every day if necessary until this company and any like it is driven from the halls of Iron Range power. I don't need votes. I don't need money. I've got no personal stake in this except that I want to see the right thing done and the people put first.

So if I go on and on, now you know why. Believe me, I'd MUCH rather be talking about something else.

Five questions about the Iron Range economic boom

Tony Barrett, an economics professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, poses five excellent questions about the Iron Range's prospective economic boom in today's Duluth News-Tribune. I sense on the streets and back roads of the Iron Range that people are sitting back, perhaps a bit too comfortable in the belief that good times are about to roll. There is work to do and change to come. This won't be easy. Kudos to Barrett for a concise summary of the issues ahead for the people of the Iron Range.

True knowledge in the north woods

This is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, May 11, 2008. I archive my columns at my writing site.

True knowledge in the north woods
By Aaron J. Brown

The other day, my almost-three-year-old son Henry and I walked down to the lake to throw sticks, a favorite pastime of Henry’s and a ritual that has begun to grow on me. We normally throw rocks but our multiple April blizzards covered all the rocks with cold water. So we’ve been throwing sticks lately, different because they drift back to shore to be thrown again. You don’t get the satisfying “splunk” sound but the whole endeavor is much more sustainable, without the sharp rocks underfoot this summer. It’s kind of like driving a compact car instead of a Mustang. You get high off the ethos, not the pathos.

Henry is highly focused. I hope this means that in the future he will focus on kindness to others and getting a job after college, but for right now he focuses squarely on throwing sticks (or, in dry times, rocks) into the lake while Northern Minnesota’s natural world unfolds around us. On this one particular day, that world included loons.

You don’t realize how little you know about loons until you explain them to a toddler.

“Ducks!” said Henry.

“No, not ducks. Loons. They’re a little like ducks but, uh, different.”

“Ducks!” he repeated.

“No, loons. They’re Minnesota’s state bird. They’re black and white.”

“I throw sticks,” Henry concluded.

Four loons appeared in front of us. Two of them danced on the water, flapping their wings the way birds do in nature photographs in magazines I read at the clinic. Was it a mating ritual? I assumed the dancing birds were the males, but was it three males wooing one female or were these two pairs of loons fighting for habitation rights to the small lake by our house?

“Look, Henry. Those loons are dancing.”

“Ha,” said Henry. “Those ducks funny.”

I know people who know what those loons were really doing, but that’s the whole point. I wouldn’t know where to begin. Sure, I could stuff my brain full of loon facts only to be left with another question. What was that other bird that was swooping down at the loons on the lake, presumably protecting its nest near the shore? That bird has a name and story, too, as do all the other birds Henry and I saw that day. And you know, even after a lifetime in northern Minnesota, including a failed career in the Boy Scouts, a college botany class in which I received a B- and literally hundreds of observations by wily old timers, I still hesitate before identifying tree species.

Basswood? Plausible.

I know a lot of things. I know the historical dynamic of every presidential race of the 20th Century (the taller guy always wins, except when named John Kerry). I know the name of the talking horse from “Hot to Trot,” a movie starring Bobcat Goldwaith that I watched on VHS at my grandma’s house when it was a new release (Don. Just Don). And also know more than I should about adult contemporary hits of the 1980s and ‘90s thanks to a stint as an overnight disc jockey during high school. I know all these things and yet I did not know what those loons were doing on the lake last week. Not for sure, anyway. I would have traded hundreds of things that I know for that one thing I did not know at that moment.

We don’t know as much as we think we do. The more I learn, the more I realize that I don’t know much beyond the tip of my nose, if that. No one can teach this lesson better than someone young, short and curious. The very next thing I do after writing this sentence is to google loons. I need to know more about loons and most other things.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him or read more at his blog: www.minnesotabrown.com.

More steel and speculation in this week's Biz North

Wayne Nelson and the writers at Business North do a fine job of covering the economic news of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This week's edition has a couple of interesting Iron Range stories.

First, this story reviews Essar Global's North American steel ambitions, something I talked about earlier in the week. This is the company that is in the process of buying Minnesota Steel, a proposed mining and steel-making operation on the Iron Range.

Then this story explores how the Iron Range is currently driving the region's manufacturing and service economy in advance of what is still believed to be a potential economic boom.

Great news! The Range is getting shafted by lobbyists!

Maybe you heard on the TV the great, fantastic super duper news that lobbyist-run Excelsior Energy got a gabildyzillion dollars in tax credits for their boondoggle Mesaba Energy Project. Wow! That's great! Except that the tax credits apply only if they build the plant, a prospect that requires private investment and a customer willing to buy the overpriced, unreliable power. Also they need to figure out how to make the vast granite shelf below the Iron Range part like the Red Sea so they can bury their carbon like they promised. I'll buy it when Moses registers as a lobbyist for Excelsior.

Literally at the same time Excelsior was sending out this press release they were ducking out of a scheduled PUC meeting that may well have put a stake through the heart of their entire project by closing off a mandated power purchase agreement they need to survive. At some point, the people of the Iron Range will grow tired of this insulting P.R. strategy and figure these people out for the hacks they are. May that day come soon.

City Pages reports on Iron Range past, present

I'm not sure what drew them to us, but City Pages -- the Twin Cities' alt weekly -- profiles a snippet of Iron Range history and provides a surprisingly detailed look at new nonferrous mineral mining technology on the East Range in this week's web edition. The history portion in particular puts a bit of a perspective on our early years here on the Range. I review how this history manifests in present times in my upcoming book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." (October 2008, Red Step Press). Now that I have my semi-random plug in for the day, back to work ...

Excelsior petitions for delay in PUC ruling on Mesaba project

Excelsior Energy's Mesaba Energy Project will not be on the docket for Thursday's Public Utilities Commission meeting. The PUC had been expected to rule on two key aspects of the proposed coal gas plant, but Excelsior asked for and received a delay.

Why? Some mumbo jumbo about an appeal to a previous administrative decision.

The truth? Either ...

1) Excelsior has reason to believe that a more favorable decision for them can be achieved in the future through political gamesmanship.

2) They are in deep trouble and know that a devastating decision will come down the next time the PUC rules.

Maybe it's both, but I forecast a battle Royal over this wasteful boondoggle (a project that, in the end, will not produce jobs or power) this summer. The amount that the public doesn't know about this company and its project is vast. When we answer some of the questions, as I and others seek to do, I don't think this project can or should proceed.

Nashwauk is just one push pin on a big map for global steel company

It's been said before, but Essar Global's ongoing purchase plans of the Minnesota Steel project -- a proposed iron mining and steel-making operations near Nashwauk -- sends the Mesabi Iron Range deep into the complicated global steel market. For two decades, Iron Rangers have come to view the prospective mine and steel mill on the old Butler Tac site as a good "jobs" project, one that would make steel in the same place where ore is mined. Reading these world headlines about Essar's activities in North America shows me that we don't yet fully understand the long term goals of this company in our area, other than they need our ore -- just as all the other steel companies have needed our ore since the 1890s.

Close observers of this story knew that after Essar bought Minnesota Steel, they bought Algoma Steel in Michigan, a facility that processes iron ore much the same way the proposed Nashwauk steel plant was supposed to do itself. Now, Essar is vying for Esmark Steel, a Chicago-based steel company with customers throughout the continent. So Essar now holds ore interests, steel plants and a distribution system -- just like Rockefeller and Carnegie did back in the old days.

First, this business story from the Hindu Times of India:

Essar Steel consolidates presence in N. America

Mumbai, May 2 -- US-based Esmark, which the Essar Group is set to acquire with an enterprise value of $1.1 billion, is part of a well-planned strategy of the Indian steel maker to consolidate its presence in the controlled and well-protected North American steel market that is estimated to be over $100 million tonnes (mt).

Esmark will be Essar’s third acquisition in the North American and Canadian markets — it had acquired Algoma Steel for $1.6 billion and Minnesota Steel for an undisclosed amount in April last year.

With this acquisition, Essar will have a production capacity of 7 mt in the North American and Canadian market — 4 mt from Algoma and 3 mt from Esmark. Significantly, this is higher than that its current production capacity in India, which is at 4.6 mt.Market presence

Although Essar Steel has been exporting to the North American markets for some years now, it became clear to the company that to consolidate its presence in that market, it had to be physically present there. This was because the US steel market, which is one of the world’s largest, is known for its protective nature.

Then, today, we learn that the Steelworkers union may battle the Esmark sale over contract issues. This May 3 story shows some of the seeds of discontent. We also learn that Esmark controls steel facilities throughout the Rust Belt. Essar could conceivably hold a piece of all of the major mining and steel-making regions in the United States if these deals go through. That's not necessarily bad, but it would be foolish of us Iron Rangers to assume we are Essar's top priority. As future negotiations with this company play out, we need to make sure that our interests -- steady jobs, fair payment of taconite taxes to fund our schools and communities, and good business and environmental practices -- are represented at the table.

As far as whether Minnesota Steel ever makes steel or not, well, it would appear that the answer depends far more on the American economy than the continued growth of India and China. Essar is trying to break into the Indonesian steel market, which would provide a much more economical way to feed the steel demand in huge, growing Asian nations. (Just look at how convoluted the Indian steel market is right now; all of this now affects people sitting at the Wauk-In cafe in Nashwauk). If the U.S. needs steel, an efficient direct-reduced steel plant in Nashwauk will be very successful. If the U.S. economy falters more then it may be many years before demand gives Essar the reason it needs to continue onto the final phase of Minnesota Steel: the phase that includes actual steel production. Until then, it may just be another mine with far fewer jobs than we had originally hoped for.

Welcome to the new world order. Find yourself a Hindu translator and get ready for an interesting decade in northern Minnesota.

Anzelc speaks truth on Mesaba boondoggle

In this Mike Jennings story rescued from last Saturday's edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, my friend and colleague Tom Anzelc becomes the highest level public official to acknowledge the foolishness of the Mesaba Energy Project:

Efforts to sort out the legal and administrative tangle that has ensnared Excelsior Energy will continue next week, but Rep. Tom Anzelc says the right outcome is clear: It’s time to drop the idea of building a coal-gasification power plant on the Iron Range.

“I am more convinced than ever that this project is not in the public interest, that it does not have a willing purchaser of the power, that its location is suspect, and it flies in the face of the discussion in the country and in the world, frankly, of sequestering carbon,” Anzelc said Friday.

Backed by legislation meant to encourage innovative energy projects and funded by an array of government grants and loans, Excelsior’s proposed Mesaba Energy Project has run into opposition both locally and with the commission.

One telling blow came last August, when the commisson ruled that Excelsior’s proposed terms for selling the initial 603-megawatt output of its power plant to Xcel Energy would be counter to the public interest. The commission dealt Excelsior another defeat last month when it denied the company’s request for an indefinite stay on negotiations with Xcel aimed at persuading the giant utility to buy still more power from Xcel.On Thursday, May 8, the commission is scheduled to consider whether to place a deadline on further negotiations between Excelsior and Xcel. It will also take up a more complex question — whether based on its “clean energy” credentials and overall costs, Excelsior should be entitled to sell Xcel at least 13 percent of the electricity that Xcel provides its retail customers.

Read the whole story here. It includes State Sen. Tom Saxhaug repeating the old line on why people should go along with the project (Because electricity is important and stuff). Interestingly, Excelsior Energy's Tom Micheletti did not return calls for this story. After his desperate-sounding letter to the editor from last week, I wonder why not?

Taking Requests: Minnesota Steel, sure thing or just a myth?

This is the third and, for now, final installment of the randomly occasional "Taking Requests" segment, in which I blog about Range issues on the minds of MinnesotaBrown readers. Today's topic, at the prompting of a couple e-mails I've received, is the Minnesota Steel project near Nashwauk.

For the past decade, the biggest of all the "proposed" economic development projects on the Iron Range has been the Nashwauk steel plant. It's gone through a few name changes and the details have shifted somewhat, but the idea has always been pretty consistent. Let's take the ore from the Iron Range and turn it directly into steel right here, saving transportation and processing costs and making American steel more competitive in the global marketplace. For a region that has depended on reliable blue collar jobs like mining and manufacturing, the prospect of union steel mill jobs has been a tantalizing possibility.

This is not a new idea. Some in my family remember the idea of turning the old Butler Taconite site near Nashwauk into a direct-reduced mine and steel mill shortly after they closed the Butler plant in the early 1980s ('83, I think, but my Iron Range Almanac of Plant Closures is in the other room). Today the Minnesota Steel plant is closer to reality than ever. It has its permits. It has an owner, India's Essar Global, that is experienced in steel making and international finance. It enjoys widespread political and and public support, more so than any other big proposed economic development project on the Iron Range. It also would provide more jobs than any other project and, to me, makes the most logical sense. Why not make the steel here when the ore product is already all heated up and ready to go.

GOOD NEWS (for Minnesota Steel proponents)

• Minnesota Steel secured its permits. In addition to being necessary this also puts the mine/steel plant first in line for construction, ahead of other projects. The untold story in all this development on the Range is that at some point the federal EPA is going to say "no mas" because of our proximity to the protected Voyageurs and the Boundary Waters parks. Provide it's built in the next year or two, the steel project will avoid this barrier.


• There are, according to a state official, eight engineers from Essar working in Hibbing on pre-construction preparations for the first phase of construction at Nashwauk. These are Essar regulars, not contracted engineers, which to me implies seriousness.


• Despite the bad economy, steel prices are still high and the fundamental motivation for building a direct-reduced steel mill on the Range remains intact.

BAD NEWS (for Minnesota Steel proponents)

• Lots of talk, no shovels. Which means that for all the progress over the past two years there are still the same number of steel plants on the Iron Range as in 1983: zero


• The reason for no groundbreaking is a delay in Essar's financing, caused in part by global trouble in the banking sector. That global trouble isn't going away any time soon, so the worry is that this delay could last longer than we're being told.


• The longer the Minnesota Steel construction is delayed, the greater the risk that the current favorable steel market will enter it's cyclical downward trend and add further financial barriers to the plant's success.


• Howard Hilshorst, the northern Minnesota mining executive brought in to steer the project, is no longer with the company. I still don't know why. Some fear that without a strong local voice inside the room with the Essar executives Iron Range interests might not be represented as well. I still don't think Hilshorst's departure is a signal of devastation for the project because there are engineers working on the Range and there remain Iron Rangers doing political work on this; but that's still not the same as an executive with Iron Range ties.


• Essar also recently bought a low grade steel mill in northern Michigan that functions much like the steel mill proposed for Nashwauk is supposed to. The company itends to begin its northern Minnesota operations by shipping concentrate to Michigan much the way all other Iron Range ore products are shipped east. This begs the unanswered question, "will they follow though in building the Iron Range steel mill if the Michigan option works?" I've heard that Essar has signed papers on steel-making equipment intended for Nashwauk, but we won't know what the company really plans to do until they start construction. A company representative has told the media that the phased introduction of steel-making was always part of the plan, but that's a fairly predictable response.

Now there are some in the environmental community who would rather the whole thing go away, but this project -- unlike Excelsior Energy or even the mineral mines on the east Range -- enjoys wide support. Despite my environmental concerns and my outspoken position against public boondoggles, I still think the steel mill is a good thing for the Iron Range. As the cereal commercials say, it could be part of "this balanced breakfast" so long as we remember to include some metaphorical fruit, orange juice and granola in our economic mix.

We'll see what happens in coming months. If we don't have financial close and groundbreaking by this summer this project can be considered far less certain than we Iron Rangers have been hoping. The fundamental truth remains: Minnesota Steel isn't real until shovels start digging.

Flash: Iron Range Stalin voters breaking for Clinton

I just love the crime section of the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald-Review. Most of the dailies up here on the Iron Range gloss over the small town crime, trimming out the details that make weekly and twice-weekly crime blotters more interesting.

This is from Wednesday's Herald-Review:

The words, "Hillary for President," were spray-painted in green paint on a vehicle parked on 21st Street Southwest in Grand Rapids. Three days earlier, the owner of the vehicle reported "Stalin for President," was painted on the same car. No damage estimate was given.

I don't know if this is a sophisticated joke, random vandalism or the reflection of a genuine Stalin-to-Clinton political trend. Stay tuned.

Drug bus visits Iron Range today; hauls propaganda, drugs

From Wednesday's Hibbing Daily Tribune:

HIBBING — Area residents who are uninsured or having difficulties financially have a way to connect with programs that provide prescription medicines at low or no cost.

The “Help Is Here Express” Bus Tour will stop in Hibbing on Thursday, May 1. From 2 to 3 p.m., the bus will be parked at Fairview University Medical Center-Mesabi, helping area residents access information on available programs.

That's right, folks. Step up to the drug company's solution to rising prescription drug prices and the increasing unaffordability of basic medical care. It's a big orange bus that generates media coverage! I'm sure the folks on the bus have good intentions, but one drug bus just isn't enough to solve the systemic health care issues facing this region or the country at large.

Meantime, more practically, the Iron Range is a bastion for older folks on fixed incomes who at one time or another were part of a labor riot. That drug bus better be stocked to the hilt with free Lipitor or blood will run in the streets.

Taking Requests: Range Retail Rumors

I'm working down my list of "Questions and Request" posts. This is Day 2 of the series. If you have a request, please let me know in the comments or by e-mail.

Jeff writes:

How about commenting on all of the rumors in Hibbing. Every time you turn around there is another rumor about Target, Sam's Club, Best Buy, Scheel's etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Being a "Man in the Know" Maybe you could shed a little light on these rumors.

A good question. Here's one thing I do know. When the end times come, the only life on the Iron Range will be soft, green lichens clinging to the sides of the mine dumps feeding off the pure carbon dioxide of the air and the dim light of a dull, red, motionless sun that hangs low in the horizon. There will be no wind or sound. The air will be cold but the ground strangely warm to the touch. And one day, one lichen will say to another lichen, "I hear we might get a Target." "Yeah," the other lichen will say. "I heard that, too."

I've heard all these retail rumors and have seen the posts on Range gossip sites like this one. I don't have any inside information other than what I've heard from various economic development types over the years. Range cities, Iron Range Resources and others will receive inquiries from all kinds of companies (Yes, including Target, Kohl's and you name it). Information is provided to these companies about zoning, traffic, population, incentive programs and the like. Then companies work in secret until the moment they begin the construction process, which usually comes in the form of a request to the zoning commission or the signing of a lease. In advance, property is usually purchased or held by some kind of real estate company until the final decisions are made. There are many lots in Hibbing currently held by third party companies while these big retail outfits decide if they'll build there or not. That's what fuels all the rumors, coupled with the fact that many companies go so far as to send officials to town to investigate (eg: "OMG, a guy from Kohl's totally stayed at the Super 8 last night!")

I've heard recently that some retail stores looking at the Hibbing area are very close to making a decision (I've heard Target, I've suspected Sam's Club because of some market research that was being conducted at the Hibbing Wal-Mart about a year ago). But the really good information isn't held in any city hall; it's held in the board rooms of these private companies. And if things move slowly I'm betting that the current economic fears seen across the country are only making them move slower. Word is that Lowes, which built a home improvement store in Hibbing last year, is under performing. That might just be the economy as I've heard from Range contractors who aren't getting nearly as many bid requests for next summer as they have in years past. That's based on anecdotes, not evidence, but it's a working theory.

Speaking of the global economic crisis, I'll visit the issue of the delay in the Minnesota Steel project near Nashwauk in my next "Fill a Request" post tomorrow. Don't worry, folks. These glum subjects don't have to depress us. Everything will be OK so long as Busch Light remains affordable.

Governor signs miners' health study funding bill

This was out earlier, but I'll make belated mention that Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill funding research about the cause of higher-than-average rates of a rare form of cancer in former Iron Ranger miners. As I've said, this will provide a whole lot of people a whole lot of answers about the risks of mining. I certainly understand that mining will go on and that there are more dangerous vocations out there than mining. But if there was a way to recognize a specific risk factor and mitigate it, why wouldn't you? This will eventually save lives.

Wide open spaces (will build to suit)

The Duluth News-Tribune reports today on the practice of public entities building speculative buildings on the Iron Range to attract business. The appeal, according to the stories sources (all governmental), is that these buildings are modern, attractive and can be customized at public expense for any company willing to sign a long term deal that involves new jobs.

Public involvement in the economic development process remains necessary and wise. And you know I'm all about jobs and new growth on the Range. Still, I wonder why these projects always seem to favor expensive new buildings on the edge of town as opposed to the regeneration of vast amounts of empty buildings and spaces inside our Range towns. In a sense, this is a smaller scale version of the same zoning problem that many urban and exurban communities face.

And people do notice. I often provide informal "immersion counseling" for people new to the Range. One political operative new to the area noticed the same spec building discussed in today's DNT, the giant building by the Hibbing airport, on his way into town. "What's the deal with that?" was an approximation of his comment, as even this outsider could recognize the stank of economic desperation that the building seemed to kick out. The empty building has also been the subject of water cooler talk around the central Range since it was built. At $1.6 million, the investment by public entities in that building is enormous. While I understand the desire to create managed growth, I can't help but think certain buildings like this one are a little heavy on dreaming and a little light on long term planning.

I still think the best strategy for community growth includes strong, attractive infrastructure. The kinds of companies that swoop in for low-cost customized buildings are the same that can swoop out just as easily. We want to create an environment where businesses develop independently and people live comfortably and prosperously. That may sound conservative but in practice it requires some very progressive action (eg. public investment in high speed internet and comprehensive highway and rail improvements).

May 8 PUC meeting could reveal fate of Mesaba boondoggle

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will revisit the second phase of the Mesaba Energy Project Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Xcel at its May 8 meeting. Two major questions are to be answered. Will the PUC recognize Excelsior Energy's proposed coal-gas power plant as a "least cost" innovative project AND will they set a deadline for negotiations between Xcel and Excelsior to set prices?

An Administrative Law Judge, in an advisory ruling, told the PUC last fall that the Mesaba project is far too expensive to be in the public's interest. And Xcel doesn't need or want Excelsior's power. Unless the state PUC mandates that Xcel buy this overpriced power from this boondoggle yet-to-be-built power plant, there can be no project. This May 8 PUC meeting might be the beginning of the long overdue end of this economic development farce. Let's hope so, because if Excelsior gains new life through political dealings then Mesaba becomes an election issue that badly muddies the U.S. Senate race. I prefer not to think about that until May 8.

Overheard at Senate District 3's endorsing convention

Today, the Minnesota Senate District 3 Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held its endorsing convention for House district's 3A and 3B.

Rep. Loren Solberg (DFL-Grand Rapids) and Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township), both incumbents, were endorsed for re-election. The biggest news of the day was the terrible weather that many believed would keep people away from the convention. While those in the northern part of the district were forced to stay home (they had 8-12 inches of snow in Koochiching County) about 50 people showed up regardless, including some from Lake of the Woods County in the far northern part of the state.


Since the business of the convention was fairly routine, here's some snapshots of what I heard today:

• The DFL endorsement battle for neighboring House District 4A has boiled down to Irene Folstrom and John Persell. There may be more candidates but Folstrom and Persell are working the phones and have a big jump. Interestingly, both have connections to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: Folstrom, a band member who works with the Red Lake tribal court system, and Persell, a soil and water commissioner and longtime associate of the band who has worked on environmental issues. The question now becomes, A) will Leech Lake delegates go with a member of the band or a longtime associate of the band, and B) who shows up to the endorsing convention? Party regulars or all the new people who flooded the system because of the exciting presidential race? The answers to those questions will determine the endorsed candidate. The endorsed candidate will likely be the nominee and will likely face John Carlson, who recently announced he would seek the Republican endorsement for this seat. Tony Williams is also running for the Republican endorsement, but I keep hearing Carlson is going to be the more plausible candidate. If you read the Bemidji Pioneer story you'll see this guy Carlson is pretty savvy and gearing for a serious run at the 4A spot.
  
• The Al Franken vs. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer U.S. Senate battle for delegates continues, though from the mood of the group on Saturday clearly reflects the idea that Franken is well ahead and knocking on the door of a first-ballot endorsement. The JNP surrogate who spoke at today's SD 3 convention ended his speech by asking by show of hands who supported which candidate. By a 2-1 margin the crowd preferred Franken. Thus, the surrogate ended his speech with the phrase: "Well that went over like a turd in the punch bowl." I don't know that it's that bad for JNP around the state, but despite their fervor, JNP backers have yet to show me exactly how (and I mean numerically) their guy wins the endorsement.
  
• Same subject. Franken's pledged delegates are receiving heavy calls from JNP and surrogates trying to get them to switch. I've been criticized for making a big deal out of this, but if your primary targets are people who swore to their friends and neighbors they would vote the other way at the convention that means you're pretty far behind.
  
• We're all sick of snow. Everyone in northern Minnesota is sick of this fake spring we're getting. Also, the Prairie River is expected to flood even more in the coming week. So Itasca County residents have that to look forward to.

Controversial one-eared bear dies

Folks may remember the Christmas-time controversy of Solo the one-eared bear and her cubs who hibernated under a cabin near Tower. The DNR initially expressed an intent to kill the bears before a public outcry demanded her rescue. Gov. Tim Pawlenty pardoned the bears and the DNR instead sent them to a bear farm in northern Michigan.

Well, Solo didn't wake up from hibernation. Her cubs are OK but Solo passed away in her sleep. Experts say that her heart rate probably slowed down too much during sleep, which I think is true of any living creature who dies in its sleep.

In honor of Solo I will try not to make light of this sad story. I don't think my readers could bear it at this time.

Range town PUC considers abandoning coal for alternatives

The head of Hibbing Public Utilities says the city should consider phasing out coal in its power generation, preferring instead renewable sources of energy or buying cheaper power from Minnesota Power. Mike Jennings has the story in today's Hibbing Daily Tribune.

... Jim Kochevar, the public utilities general manager, said Monday that some problems with the wood-burning unit have already been solved and others will be once a sound re-engineering plan has been worked out. He said the thornier problems deal with coal — and the best long-term solution would be to abandon coal-fired power production.

...

Kochevar said getting coal that is free of fine particles has gotten harder over time, and getting rail delivery, which would eliminate the need for above-ground storage, has been impossible because BNSF Railway has refused to make coal cars available.

While the power plant can and will become a better neighbor in the near future, over the longer term Hibbing’s public utilities should “find a way to cost-effectively get out of coal,” at least at its downtown power plant, Kochevar said.He said the utilities might consider switching entirely to renewable fuels or producing power at a new location in partnership with Minnesota Power Co.

Hibbing, the largest city on the Iron Range, is one of two Range towns involved in the Laurentian Energy Authority which received hefty federal funding to develop biomass energy production that burns aspen and other trees grown in Northern Minnesota. Now outgoing Hibbing PUC general manager Jim Kochevar says the kinks are worked out and the city could consider switching all the way to biomass and buying some or most of its remaining electrical load from Minnesota Power. (Kochevar is soon taking a job with Cleveland Cliffs to run their Michigan energy operations, which includes biomass production).

All this comes in the context of a citizen meeting where Hibbing residents expressed outrage over all the coal dust settling on the neighborhood around the PUC plant.

If Hibbing can switch to alternative fuels, any town can switch to alternative fuels. This is worth following.

MinnesotaBrown featured in 'Politics in Minnesota' weekly report

My thanks to Politics in Minnesota and their morning report editor Peter Bartz-Gallagher for profiling me in the new Blogger Q&A feature in their Weekly Report. To be the first blogger included in this feature is an honor deserved more by some of the fancy big city bloggers out there but I wasn't about to turn it down. Here is an excerpt of my comments about the political relevance of the Iron Range:

The average Iron Ranger votes much more regularly than in other areas. Our voter turnout percentage ranges from 80 to 90 percent in most local towns. However, I see fewer candidates for small town and county elections and an absolute drop off in civic club participation. Those days as we knew them might be fading. I do the blog as a way of trying to keep the Iron Range tradition alive in the Internet age. I think my generation of Iron Rangers will one day feel the fire in the belly to reverse some of these trends, but probably not the same way their parents and grandparents perceived civic engagement.

And that's just a taste. The naked pictures and my detailed list of Iron Range communists working in local government are all in the full feature.* Go to Politics in Minnesota and sign up for their morning and weekly reports. They provide (almost) all you need to know about Minnesota politics. The rest, of course, can be found here.

*Feature may not include naked pictures or communists.

UPDATE: I failed to mention that the Weekly Report is a paid subscription service. The Morning Report is free.