Ramping up the pressure to repeal a 15-year-old ban on building more nuclear power plants in Minnesota, union officials, business leaders and politicians -- including U.S. Reps. Tim Walz, a Democrat, and Erik Paulsen, a Republican -- urged the Legislature on Tuesday to lift the moratorium.
"Everything must be on the table," Walz said.
After years of attempts, backers of nuclear power got a boost this year when the Minnesota Senate approved a moratorium repeal. The House, however, turned back a move to do so.
The nuclear power debate may intensify next year given a newly organized push for expansion and the 2010 elections.
"Nuclear sucks the political air out of the room," said Lisa Ledwidge of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Minneapolis, which opposes the repeal.
'Things have changed'
But local backers of the repeal said attitudes toward nuclear power are shifting.
"If you look around the room, it's very clear that things have changed and they've changed for the better," Paulsen said at Tuesday's pro-repeal news conference. He was joined by more than a dozen supporters, including the vice president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Minnesota building trades union.
Some legislators questioned the immediate prospects for change.
"I don't know if it will happen in 2010," said Rep. Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, who supports the repeal.
State Rep. Bill Hilty, chairman of the House energy committee, doesn't foresee a repeal next year. The House voted against lifting the ban in committee and on the floor this year.
"I don't have any reason to believe that people have changed their minds," said Hilty, DFL-Finlayson. Hilty said he is not against expanded nuclear power, but he hasn't seen so-called next generation nuclear plants come in on time, on budget and produce inexpensive energy for ratepayers.
Until those issues are taken care of "it's probably not the best idea for Minnesota to jump ahead of the pack here," he said.
A host of Minnesota environmental organizations weighed in Tuesday for the ban.
A wet blanket
Even if the ban were lifted, Minnesota wouldn't immediately see a nuclear plant building boom. It has been 13 years since a nuclear plant opened in the United States, and the process to bring a new plant online can take a decade or more.
Jim Alders, director of regulatory administration for Xcel Energy, said the company, while supportive of a repeal, is focused on maintaining its plants at Monticello and Prairie Island.
"It's not something that needs to be resolved in the next year or two," Alders said, "But ... the moratorium tends to put a wet blanket on the discussion of what our energy policy should be in Minnesota."
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger • 651-292-0164
