Advocates for nuclear energy hope this is the year Minnesota takes a step toward lifting its 32-year-old moratorium on new nuclear power plants in the state.
A coalition of utilities, counties, clean energy groups and labor unions known as the Minnesota Nuclear Energy Alliance is pushing the Legislature to reconsider the ban.
They say Minnesota needs nuclear energy to help meet a state law requiring utilities to provide carbon-free power by 2040, and to meet the growing demand for electricity.
“We do feel like having a carbon-free requirement in this state and having … basically one resource that's available at all times and carbon free, it really makes it important that that resource be on the table for our state's future,” said Darrick Moe, president and CEO of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association, which represents the state’s electric cooperatives.
Moe testified in favor of the bill during a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.
Currently, Minnesota has a moratorium on new nuclear plants. The Legislature enacted it in 1994, as part of a compromise to allow Xcel Energy to store nuclear waste at its Prairie Island plant near Red Wing.
As a first step toward opening the door to new nuclear energy in Minnesota, some state lawmakers are backing a bill authorizing a study of the potential to build new nuclear plants, including small, modular reactors that are currently in development in the U.S.
The study would examine costs, federal regulations, technological advances, location issues and environmental impacts, among other factors. The proposal received a mixed response this week during committee hearings at the Minnesota Capitol.
Xcel Energy operates two nuclear plants in Minnesota, at Prairie Island and Monticello, both built in the 1970s. It plans to continue operating them for the next several decades.
As utilities retire coal-fired power plants and shift toward more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, interest in nuclear has been surging in recent years. Its supporters see it as a constant, low-carbon energy source that could help meet the anticipated surge in demand for electricity for data centers, EVs and manufacturing.
Several U.S. states have recently eased their bans on new nuclear plants. And the Trump administration has been pushing the development of new, experimental reactors around the U.S.
But nuclear energy comes with its own challenges, including high construction costs, safety concerns and the problem of storing radioactive nuclear waste.
Currently, there is no permanent storage site for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S., so it is stored on site at nuclear plants, including Prairie Island and Monticello.
Legislators have proposed a nuclear study in previous sessions, but it’s failed to pass. This year’s bill has the support of the Prairie Island Indian Community, which lawmakers from both parties see as essential to its passage.
Prairie Island’s reservation is just 700 yards from a nuclear plant owned by Xcel Energy. Xcel built the plant in the early 1970s without consent from the tribe, which has long objected to the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the site.
Both House and Senate versions of the bill require that that study includes nuclear waste storage and impacts on surrounding communities.
The bill’s supporters noted that a study isn’t a guarantee that a nuclear plant will be built in Minnesota anytime soon, if ever.
“We're not permitting anything,” said Rep. Spencer Igo, R-Wabana Township, the House bill’s sponsor. “We're not making anything happen. But we’re at least going to start opening the order to learn about what it looks like for Minnesota.”
The proposal has encountered a few bumps. A Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Mathews, R-Princeton, passed out of the energy committee on Wednesday. But a House energy committee postponed taking action on a similar bill, rather than advancing it.
Some DFL lawmakers said they thought the bill needs more work. They expressed concern that funding for the study would come from the state’s Renewable Development Account. Xcel pays annual fees into the account for storing nuclear waste at Prairie Island and Monticello, and the money is used to develop renewable energy projects.
Rep. Patty Acomb, DFL-Minnetonka, said she wants the study to compare the costs of nuclear energy with other types of electricity generation.
After the House committee’s vote, Igo issued a statement, saying Minnesota’s carbon-free energy goals “make it critical to explore all viable energy sources.”
“Nuclear energy has the potential to lower costs, create economic opportunities, and strengthen Minnesota’s energy future,” he stated. “This bill is designed to advance a study that will help identify the most effective path forward.”
