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North Dakota May Challenge Minnesota CO2 Rule Minnesota’s efforts to penalize utilities that purchase coal-generated electricity may prompt a lawsuit from neighboring North Dakota.
The proposed rules say CO2-producing power sources should include between $9 and $34 in costs for each ton of CO2 produced.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has said the proposed rules would violate Constitutional restrictions against states regulating each others’ business activities, an argument that has been rejected by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission.
In the mid-90s, Minnesota’s PUC considered assessing the environmental costs of North Dakota’s coal-fired plants, but in the end the plants were exempted from proposed rules.
North Dakota’s legislature has authorized the North Dakota Industrial Commission to spend up to $2 million on possible litigation against the Minnesota rules. Some have responded that the new rules only ask that utilities “consider” the possible future cost of CO2 restrictions in their long-term supply planning. |
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