So yesterday Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Energy Project got into another news cycle with their environmental hearing regarding the pipeline for their proposed coal gas plant near Taconite. This was a hearing about just the pipeline, which is step 18 of a 50-step process that will never get past the first step of getting the money and customers needed to actually build the plant.
Contested Case Hearing for Mesaba Energy Project
On Tuesday, almost two dozen people testified on behalf of the Mesaba Energy Project at a contested case hearing in Taconite. An administrative law judge listened to the testimony, and the public was allowed to ask the panel questions. The judge will take all of the testimony, and make a recommendation to the Department of Commerce on the site permit, the transmission line permit, and the pipeline permit. Then the Department of Commerce will present their findings to the
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. That agency has the final say on the project, the permits, and the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement. Their decision is expected in the spring.Union representatives and local leaders support the coal gasification plant, which is planned for Taconite. There is an opposition movement to the project, called Citizens Against the Mesaba Project. Attorneys for that group and other members were in attendance, and testified as well.
Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Hoyt Lakes, which is the alternative site for the project.
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