Today’s Hibbing Daily Tribune reports that Hibbing Public Utilities general manager Jim Kochevar is taking a job with Cleveland-Cliffs to oversee that company’s energy operations in Michigan. Kochevar was one of the leaders who developed the Laurentian Energy Authority, a biomass power generation project shared by the cities of Hibbing and Virginia. Cleveland-Cliffs recently announced plans to develop biomass power plants to provide electricity for its some of its mining operations. They’re starting in Michigan, but I expect that if that works they’ll be building similar plants in or around their Minnesota operations.
Have you ever noticed how the rising cry of “the next great boom” on the Iron Range reaches its crescendo just about the time the national economy goes into the tank? I’m not holding my breath for the predictions of this next great boom. Maybe it will come, maybe it won’t, but for now? I’m from Missouri.