The Minnesota Utilities Commission is asking power companies to consider speeding up projects such as wind energy to pump up the state's economy in the COVID-19 slump. | Stock photo
The Minnesota Utilities Commission is asking power companies to consider speeding up projects such as wind energy to pump up the state's economy in the COVID-19 slump. | Stock photo
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has asked energy companies to consider speeding up planned projects as a way to help the state pull out of the COVID-19 economic slump, MinnPost reported.
“We could put a lot of people to work when it’s a hard time,” Commissioner Joseph Sullivan told MInnPost. “It should be all hands on deck right now. There are a lot of people who could be put to work through these utility projects – projects that also have a public benefit.”
Several power companies are open to the idea, the story stated.
“We already have two major generation projects under construction — the Merricourt Wind Energy Center project and the Astoria Station natural gas peaking plant project,” Otter Tail Power Company spokeswoman Stephanie Hoff said in an email. “We have several transmission projects under construction. We expect a good deal of activity on these projects until the end of the year and a bit beyond.”
These are projects that can be completed safely during the pandemic, Sullivan said.
“A lot of the work can be done outside. You can socially distance and do it safely,” he said. “Our role as a commission is critically important in getting people back to work.”
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