The energy transition away from fossil fuels has many benefits, including for Greater Minnesota

Even as we fear the worst from what’s happening in Washington, where fossil fuel lobbyists now have the upper hand, the transition from fossil fuels to non-carbon fuels is well under way here in Minnesota. 

The use of coal-fired electrical power plants has declined since 2020, no new ones are being built, and the last one is scheduled to close in 2035. In 2023, renewable resources supplied 33% of Minnesota’s total in-state electricity generation, three-fourths of it from wind energy. Solar had a slower start, but then expanded by nearly 7-fold from 2016 to 2023 and is expected to increase 2.6-fold by 2028. 

If the Trump administration insists on blocking continued progress on this transition, Minnesotans should consider the consequences, which will include both backsliding on greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the loss of a number of extra benefits we win if we move away from fossil fuels: reducing the cost of importing fossil fuels; reducing health impacts from air pollution; and, growing a technology-based renewables future and promoting economic development, especially for cities in Greater Minnesota. 

Let’s go under the hood:  

Reduced cost of imported fossil fuels 

Minnesota now spends $22.7 billion dollars per year to purchase fossil fuels — petroleum, natural gas, and coal — all produced in other states or other countries. This is about 6% of Minnesota’s total gross domestic product ( $390 billion) and about 1.5 times more than funding on K-12 education (now $15 billion, including local, state, and federal spending). If we produced 100% of our energy in-state, we would avoid shipping our dollars out of the state, perhaps using it to increase funding for schools or other important priorities.

Reduced air pollution  

If we achieve the goal of reducing fossil fuel emissions to zero, air emissions of fine particulates (particles smaller than 2.5 microns) would decline by about one-half. This would improve our health. The Minnesota Department of Health’s “Life and Death” report concluded that an average of 10% of all deaths in the Twin Cities metro were attributable to fine particulates in 2015.  

In addition to reducing deaths, decreased air pollution caused by combustion would greatly relieve suffering for the approximately 502,000 of Minnesotans who endure asthma and the 204,000 who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or  COPD.

Strong technology sector to lead growth

Minnesota is well suited for wind and solar development, with large areas of open land to produce energy that are often near cities that need it. Perhaps more importantly, we have the capacity to be a major leader in the development of new energy technologies and a major exporter of them. The ultimate market is the other 8.1 billion people on our planet who will also need to reduce GHGs.

Minnesota already has a strong high-tech industry that employs 380,000 workers (12.4 % of all Minnesota non-farm jobs) and ranks 13th among U.S. states in high tech employment. Forty percent of Minnesotans older than 25 have a B.S. degree or higher, placing us in the upper quarter of states. We also have 52 public and private colleges and a national-class University system with several top 20 engineering programs that could spearhead research to improve existing technologies, develop entirely new ones, and foster commercialization of these. 

Revitalization of Greater Minnesota cities

Most of the new wind and solar production will occur in Greater Minnesota because there is a lot of flat land suitable for wind and solar development. Greater Minnesota is also dotted with dozens of cities with populations larger than 5,000, with a combined population numbering in the millions. The job potential in these cities, especially those in the southern half of the state, could be substantial.

It might even combat the population loss that many outstate cities are facing. Good jobs in the renewable energy arena might help to keep young residents from moving away or motivate them to return after attending trade school or college elsewhere. Growth in the renewable energy sector would also attract some young adults now living in the metro (or other states) to relocate to our Greater Minnesota cities to take advantage of lower housing costs, less congestion, and greater access to nature. These demographic drivers would likely lower the median age of counties and raise wages generally.

Greater Minnesota elected officials and those who seek office should bear in mind that the public is fully on board with the energy transition: A 2024 Yale Climate Survey shows that most Minnesotans (73%) believe global warming is happening, is caused by humans (58%), and will harm future generations (74%). Eighty-one percent of Minnesota respondents supported funding for renewable energy sources. 

In summary, although there is a lot of angst about our current energy transition, it will likely result in large co-benefits that accrue quickly and occur throughout much of the state, especially for Greater Minnesota. 

If proposed reductions in federal funding were to become real, however, these benefits would be greatly diminished, to the detriment of the economy of Greater Minnesota.