## Minnesota’s Nuclear Moratorium: A Battle for the Future of Energy
Minnesota’s 31-year-old ban on new nuclear power plants is facing renewed pressure. Utility companies and nuclear proponents argue that nuclear energy is crucial to achieving the state’s ambitious goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. This target, coupled with rising electricity demands fueled by residential electrification, data center expansion, and electric vehicle adoption, is intensifying calls for legislative action.
The political landscape is sharply divided. Republicans overwhelmingly favor repealing the moratorium, while Democrats emphasize the need for guidance from the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC). This places the ultimate decision firmly in the hands of the PIIC Tribal Council, which has a long history of opposing nuclear energy interests, dating back to the construction of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant over 50 years ago. Given the state legislature’s current partisan split, the PIIC’s stance will be pivotal in determining the moratorium’s fate.
Blake Johnson, the tribe’s Capitol representative, highlights the community’s ongoing engagement with this issue since the last legislative session. However, he stresses that the tribe will not take a position on any bills without further community consultation and Tribal Council deliberations. Johnson’s testimony to the Senate Energy, Environment, and Climate committee underscored the state’s long reliance on the existing plant, emphasizing the decades of reliable, pollution-free baseload energy it has provided.
Recent events have further complicated the debate. A 2023 incident at Xcel Energy’s Monticello plant, involving the leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water and a four-month delay in public notification, has raised significant safety concerns. Senator Andrew Matthews (R-Princeton), co-chair of the Senate energy committee and lead author of the bill to repeal the moratorium, attempted to address these concerns by proposing an amendment to prohibit new nuclear facilities within 10 miles of the Prairie Island reservation. However, without the PIIC’s explicit support, the bill failed to advance in the Senate committee.
The House version of the bill also faced setbacks. Its passage through the House Energy Finance and Policy Committee relied solely on Republican votes, following a Democratic boycott. A subsequent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling invalidated this vote due to a lack of quorum.
Beyond the nuclear debate, the Senate energy committee also considered a bill to classify large-scale hydropower projects as carbon-free. This stems from a 2023 law mandating 100% zero-carbon electricity generation by 2040. Currently, hydroelectric plants under 100 megawatts are classified as renewable. The proposed bill would eliminate this cap, potentially facilitating the development of larger hydroelectric dams. While the bill did not progress through committee, its potential inclusion in future legislation remains a possibility. The current largest hydroelectric facility in Minnesota, the Thompson Dam, produces approximately 70 megawatts – enough to power several hundred homes.
By Madison McVan, Minnesota Reformer, January 29, 2025
(Note: The provided boilerplate information about the Minnesota Reformer and its republishing guidelines has been omitted from this rewritten article for brevity. It should be included if this is intended for publication.)