The agency urged the Legislature to consider whether tailings storage and processing methods are "compatible" in the same watershed as the wilderness area.
Because of concerns about its ability to satisfy requirements to provide power to the Midwest power grid during peak demand, Otter Tail Power Co. will keep its share of Coyote Station.
“We don’t want to do anything that can’t be undone that we would regret,” Nate Jensen, Otter Tail’s manager of resource planning, has said of his company's decision to stick with coal-fired power.
North Dakota officials are preparing to file a lawsuit against Minnesota on the grounds that the law interferes with their ability to sell coal and natural gas.
A bill being fast-tracked by Democrats through the Legislature would require Minnesota utilities to have carbon-free electricity generation. It now awaits a vote of the full Senate.
