(KNSI) – Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission is hosting a public hearing on dramatic changes in store for the Sherburne County power plant. The meeting begins at 6:00 PM Wednesday inside the Becker High School Performing Arts Center.
Known simply as Sherco, the facility currently boasts three coal-fired generators producing over 600 megawatts each. Xcel Energy intends to shutter all of them by 2030 as part of its plan to transition away from fossil fuels. The utility is looking to build a solar farm as a partial replacement, generating roughly 460 megawatts. It would be the largest solar facility, by far, in the entire state.
Also being proposed would be transmission lines to shepherd the power across Central Minnesota. Infrastructure is already in place to transfer power as far away as North Dakota from the current coal-powered plant.
The solar facility is scheduled for groundbreaking this year, to be completed and online by 2024. A natural gas component for the site was originally proposed. Xcel announced it was scrapping the idea last summer.
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