MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal regulators have ordered BNSF Railway to come up with a plan to ensure that power plants in Minnesota and other states will have enough coal to get them through the winter.
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board cited supply problems at Minnesota Power Co. and Otter Tail Power Co. in particular, the Star Tribune reported Wednesday (https://strib.mn/1tJwfA6 ). The board said it wants to ensure that the railroad can “promptly and effectively” respond if coal stockpiles fall critically low at one or more “regionally significant” power plants due to unanticipated circumstances.
Coal shortages blamed on rail delays last year forced some power plants in the region to curtail generation of electricity, including five operated by the two Minnesota utilities.
BNSF spokesman Mike Trevino said the railroad will comply with the STB’s request for a contingency plan, which is due by Jan. 29.
Officials at Minnesota’s three investor-owned utilities said deliveries have improved lately but that their stockpiles are lower than they would prefer. They welcomed the order as a path toward a longer-term solution.
Fergus Falls-based Otter Tail Power reduced output to save coal at its Big Stone power plant in South Dakota but ended that conservation measure Jan. 1, spokeswoman Cris Oehler said.
Duluth-based Minnesota Power curtailed output at four plants last fall, but all are operating at normal levels again, said Al Rudeck, vice president of strategy and planning.
At Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc., Craig Romer, director of fuel supply operations, said coal stockpiles have improved and they’re “hopeful the inventories will return to optimal levels in the near future.”
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