Minnesota Power to idle Taconite Harbor Energy Center next year
As part of its shift away from smaller coal-fired plants, Duluth-based Minnesota Power will idle its Taconite Harbor Energy Center beginning in the fall of 2016.
Located in the North Shore town of Schroeder, Taconite Harbor Energy Center currently produces 150 of the company’s 1,900 megawatts of power.
The move was first announced in a meeting with the plant’s 42 employees Thursday and in a news release later in the day. The company will cease coal-fired operations at Taconite Harbor entirely by the end of 2020. In the interim years, it will be restarted only to maintain grid reliability, company officials said.
The move comes as part of the company’s “EnergyForward” initiative — a road map for achieving a diversified energy supply of one-third renewable resources, one-third coal and one-third natural gas.
