by Megan McNeil, Sierra Club Intern
Uptown Art Fair crowd
Sierra Club volunteers have been asking everyone to sign our solar petition asking Xcel to help us get 10% of Minnesota’s energy by 2030.
Xcel Energy most recent long-term energy plan needs to be approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission this year. Their energy plan seeks to transition off of coal in its Black Dog Power Plant as well as further wind power and energy efficiency in Minnesota. However, Xcel is still not committing to retiring and replacing part of the dirtiest coal plant in the state – Sherco 1 and 2. And despite Minnesota’s potential for solar and the decreasing cost of solar, solar is not even mentioned in the plan.
That’s why we have been collecting solar postcards from a variety of locations and events, including co-ops, farmer’s markets, Veg Fest and Rondo Days in St Paul.
Tom Reinke, a volunteer petitioner, speaking with Art Fair goers about solar power
We need to let Xcel know that Minnesotans care about clean energy and want more investment in our state. We have an unbelievable potential for solar power – some say as much as Miami, Florida – and we have yet to fully tap into that potential. All we need is our biggest public utility to back us up!
Click here to sign our petition. And contact us to help out with our petitioning efforts!