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Big Stone II addresses electricity needs
Published 12:00pm Tuesday, January 6, 2009Electricity, like other commodities, is subject to the laws of supply and demand. In fact, electricity prices are more sensitive to supply shortages than nearly any other commodity because electricity can’t be stored. All the electricity that is consumed in an instant must be produced in that instant.
When electricity supplies are tight, prices quickly can skyrocket to ten times their normal price, or even higher. Unfortunately, our electricity supply is not keeping pace with growth in demand. The regional power pool forecasts that our reserve generation capacity will be gone by 2011. If that’s not bad enough, the regional transmission operator describes our transmission system as “severely restricted.”
The only way to ensure reasonable prices and protect consumers from huge price runups is to make sure that we have enough generation capacity to meet our needs, as well as a robust transmission system that minimizes constraints and bottlenecks that distort prices.
The Big Stone II project addresses both these needs. The power plant will produce clean, reliable, low-cost energy for generations to come. The transmission component of the project will enable the energy to flow to homes and businesses in Minnesota, and will also support up to 1,000 megawatts of new wind development.
We need the Big Stone II project to ensure our energy future. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should approve the project without further delay.
