Update On President Obama's War On Coal; It Will Cost Minnesotans Another $5/Month In Utility Bills -- January 17, 2016

Update on Big Stone. I think I've blogged about it before -- a long, long time ago -- ah, yes, here are some links (a mixture of Big Stone and Big Stone II [Milbank, SD]):

• the cost of going green, July 31, 2010 
• MDU and Otter Tail will get paid for power plant built, never used, October 24, 2009  
• Minnesotans enjoy higher utility rates, April 14, 2011 
• transmission line, March 23, 2014
• why MDU utility bills are increasing, July 25, 2015

This week it's being reported that it's likely that after $400 million in renovations and attempts to comply with EPA rules and regulations, most was for naught. Not to worry. It will only cost Minnesota rate-payers $5/month.

An environmental retrofit of Otter Tail Power Co.’s largest coal-fired power plant has finished significantly under budget, but the achievement is clouded by worries that new greenhouse gas rules will curtail how much the plant operates in future years.

In a report to Minnesota regulators this week, the Fergus Falls-based utility said the Big Stone, S.D., power plant owned with two other utilities went back into full operation Dec. 29, and the project cost, while not yet finally tallied, will be at least 22 percent below the original budget of $491 million.

But those emissions controls don’t reduce carbon dioxide, the gas linked to global warming. During the Big Stone retrofit, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed and later finalized its Clean Power Plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants.

At first, Otter Tail officials raised alarm with the EPA that the plant — the only coal-fired generator in South Dakota — would be forced to shut down, stranding an investment that costs residential ratepayers in Minnesota about $5 per month. But the final rule softened South Dakota’s carbon targets, and the utility officials no longer are concerned about shuttering the plant.

Even so, the risk is that Big Stone, just across the border from Ortonville, Minn., won’t be allowed to operate at full capacity. It might have to shut down part of the time or run at partial output. Rudolf said it could take years before the answer is known. South Dakota has joined other states to challenge the carbon rule in federal court, but the state plans to develop a compliance plan in case that effort fails.

Based on the comments at the article, it was obvious "no one" cares.

Oh, when will this craziness end?

When will all this craziness end? I'm going to have to pay for all this 20 years from now.