The Becker plant employs 350 people on a regular basis, another 800 during its peak cycle, and generates 150 jobs at a local paper company.
In the little town of Becker, Xcel Energy operates a power plant that produces roughly a quarter of all the electricity used in the region. More than 1 million Minnesotans depend on this affordable, reliable energy source.
The Becker plant also employs 350 people on a regular basis, another 800 during its peak cycle, and generates 150 jobs at a local paper company, which utilizes excess steam from the facility. Those jobs provide ripple effects that are the economic drivers for the entire region.
In fact, for every one worker at Sherco, there are five service employees in the region who support the facility, and the plant provides almost 75 percent of the local property tax base. Those tax dollars fund better public schools, including teachers, facilities, equipment, technology, and all the things needed to provide our children a high-quality education.
But those benefits are all under threat.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency long ago targeted the Sherco power plant for closure. Recently, the EPA released its Clean Power Plan, which would increase electricity rates by 18 percent and natural gas rates by 45 percent, according to a study by Energy Ventures Analysis.
If fully implemented, the plan would shut down the Sherco plant, along with 1,000-plus jobs that go with it. Never mind that Minnesota consistently gets top grades from the American Lung Association, and Xcel is the nation’s leading producer of wind energy; bureaucrats in Washington have decided those jobs and economic benefits are not worth protecting.
In a 2012 article, environmentalist and former WCCO-TV anchorman Don Shelby noted, “Xcel has poured a lot of money into technology to decrease the emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide at Sherco, and announced in December that it has plans to spend $438 million on further improvements over the next nine years.”
The members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 160 understand the way to provide Minnesota a secure energy future is to use our diverse energy portfolio with an all-of-the-above strategy that includes coal-based electricity.
Minnesota’s economy is becoming healthier, but many here remain under-employed. The IBEW workers at the Sherco facilities are among the hardworking Minnesotans who deserve our help to ensure future economic vitality for our region and state.
We ask you to stand with the workers at Sherco and let your voice be heard. You can learn more about pushing back against the EPA’s costly Clean Power Plan by visiting www.secureenergyfuture.org and signing the petition to protect Minnesota jobs and families.
This is the opinion of Bob Boogren, business manager of IBEW Local 160.
Sherco serves as heart of Becker area"s economy
No comments:
Post a Comment