“The smokestack which everyone is protesting will look like an orchid to Washington County taxpayers.”

• Judge John T. McDonough, Stillwater (Minneapolis Star, August 14, 1964)

Xcel Energy has provided new information regarding its plans to close the Allen S. King coal-fired power plant in Oak Park Heights. As part of a planning process with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the power company has outlined its strategies for producing energy between now and 2040.

While it develops new solar farms across the region, Xcel is planning to close the King Plant in 2028, as St. Croix 360 has previously reported. The site will be converted to produce about 550 megawatts of solar power, which will exceed the plant’s current capacity of 510 MWs. The King Plant is already being used less than half the year, only brought online during seasons of peak demand in summer and winter.

The development of the Allen S. King Plant in the 1960s caused significant local opposition. Efforts to stop the proposal were unsuccessful but resulted in popular support for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, which included the St. Croix as one of the inaugural rivers. The plant’s construction was also credited with inspiring Northern States Power to support the federal legislation, and made creation of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway possible by donating significant tracts of land the company owned along the upper St. Croix.

Plans for future

By the end of 2028, the steam-turbine power plant, burning Wyoming coal, will be decommissioned. The smokestack and many buildings will be removed. It will be a major part of Xcel reducing its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2030. The utility will accomplish that not only by significant investments in wind and solar production, but also battery storage, a new natural gas plant, and extending the service of the company’s two nuclear power plants.

“Our plan positions us to advance our clean energy vision by adding wind and solar resources while reinforcing the reliability of the grid with battery storage and clean natural gas,” said Ryan Long, president of Xcel Energy—Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. “By working together with the Commission and our stakeholders, we’ll meet the unprecedented growth in electricity demand in our region, invest in our communities, and maintain reliable and resilient service for our customers.”

The plan calls for the company’s energy mix in 2030 to include approximately 45 percent wind, nine percent solar, 24 percent nuclear, 10 percent energy efficiency and distributed solar programs, 11 percent natural gas, and about two percent hydro and biomass. A key part of the plan is also a large battery storage facility where energy acquired from wind and solar can be stored for peak usage times.

The Public Utilities Commissioned approved the plan on February 20, putting several conditions on the company, including that costs are “reasonable and prudently incurred.” The company must also provide annual reports on its progress toward ending its use of coal by 2030.

Planetary benefits

The King Plant has been a significant contributor to global warming since it began operation in 1968. According to an Environmental Protection Agency database, the King Plant has released approximately 85 million tons of carbon dioxide in the past 30 years (just over half its service life and when its usage has significantly declined). Carbon dioxide causes the atmosphere to trap more of the sun’s energy, leading to climate changes like increased summer heat, disrupted precipitation patterns, and rapidly warming winters.

The plant’s emissions have also harmed human and environmental health in other ways. Based on an algorithm developed in 2019, pollution from the King Plant causes about 10 deaths, fifteen heart attacks, and 160 asthma attacks per year.

The largest financial institutions in the United States recently told their investors that they now expect the world to miss the target of a 2 degree increase in global average temperature, and are now anticipating a 3 degree rise. Politico reported on March 31 that Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, and an international banking group all believe the Earth will see disastrous levels of global warming. Morgan Stanley included the information in a report on air conditioning, saying climate change could cause the industry to more than double in size in the next five years.

Solar strife

The main solar power project intended to help replace King Plant energy production would consist of about 5,000 acres at sites in St. Croix County as well as a 15-mile transmission line. Called the Ten Mile Creek Project, the proposed solar farms have raised some local opposition in the past several months, with more than 5,000 signatures on online petition calling on the project to be stopped, or at a minimum, reduced in size and moved away from the village of Hammond. Opponents say they are concerned about the visual impact, harm to property values, and other effects.

Decisions about the Ten Mile Creek project will be made primarily by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, which can override local zoning. Xcel says it plans to apply for the necessary permission late this year, which will also include a full environmental review by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The company hopes to start construction in 2027 and complete it by 2029.

Xcel’s continued use of the King Plant site for renewable energy should factor into concerns by the city of Oak Park Heights. The energy company’s property taxes make up about a third of the city’s annual revenue. Replacing this financial foundation when Xcel closes the power plant has been a priority for the city the past several years. If Xcel continues to own and use the site, it might mean the city won’t lose its important tax revenue.

The King Plant began operating in 1968, with a smokestack nearly 800 feet tall. It can burn 300 tons of coal per hour, the equivalent of 2.5 train car loads, which currently comes from the North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Wyoming. The smokestack was also notable for being the site of the first peregrine falcon nesting box in the country, pioneering a program that helped bring the birds back from the brink of extinction.

References

Xcel Energy. Xcel Energy’s 2024-2040 Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Feb. 2025. https://mn.gov/puc/activities/economic-analysis/planning/xcel-energy-irp/

Upper Midwest Plan | Energy Plans. Xcel Energy, 20 Feb. 2025, https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/sustainability/plans/upper-midwest-plan.

Xcel Energy Gains Approval for New Energy Resources to Deliver Reliable, Clean Energy in the Upper Midwest. Xcel Energy, 20 Feb. 2025, https://newsroom.xcelenergy.com/news/xcel-energy-gains-approval-for-new-energy-resources-to-deliver-reliable-clean-energy-in-the-upper-midwest.

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Approves Xcel Energy’s Resource Plan, Prioritizing Reliability and Affordability. Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, 21 Feb. 2025, https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/MNPUBUC-3d38825?wgt_ref=MNPUBUC_WIDGET_2.

Toll from Coal. Clean Air Task Force, 2019, https://www.tollfromcoal.org.

Clean Air Markets Program Data, Allen S. King Plant, Environmental Protection Agency, 1995-2024, https://campd.epa.gov/data/custom-data-download?bookmarkId=1490

Ten Mile Creek Solar. Xcel Energy, https://mn.my.xcelenergy.com/customersupport/s/projects/tenmile-creek-solar. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.

Hiar, Corbin. “Big Banks Predict Catastrophic Warming, with Profit Potential.” E&E News by POLITICO, 31 Mar. 2025, https://www.eenews.net/articles/big-banks-predict-catastrophic-warming-with-profit-potential/.