SUPERIOR — Members of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, as well as elected officials who represent Superior on state and national levels, gathered on Thursday, March 28, to encourage residents to contact local officials to urge support for the Nemadji Trail Energy Center.
Dairyland Power Cooperative, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power are the companies planning the 625-megawatt natural gas power plant that is slated to be built on the banks of the Nemadji River.
The city’s Plan Commission made no recommendations to the council concerning a zoning change and the vacation of streets and alleys for the project, leaving it up to the City Council to decide the land use issues.
Councilors will consider the land use changes when it meets on Wednesday, April 3.
“Reliable and affordable energy is what powers the American dream,” said Megan Novak, state director of Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin. She said projects like NTEC will not only bring affordable and reliable energy to the region, but also will create economic opportunities, jobs and community growth to the state.
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Companies like Cenovus, Enbridge Energy, Lidgerwood-Mundy and many others in Superior need access to affordable and reliable energy as a key ingredient to retain jobs, said Scott Manley, vice president of WMC. He said manufacturing in Superior accounts for $932 million in assessed property value and accounts for 36% of property taxes collected by the city.
“Manufacturing is critical to Superior and it’s critical to Wisconsin as a whole,” Manley said. “In fact, manufacturing is Wisconsin’s largest economic sector. It provides family-supporting jobs for 479,000 men and women in Wisconsin. These aren’t just jobs. They’re careers.”
He said the average manufacturing job pays 38% more in wages and benefits than the state average of $58,000 per year.
“If energy isn’t affordable, or is elsewhere in the state, those jobs are going to go somewhere else,” Manley said. “And that’s why we think it’s so critical that the NTEC project gets built because it’s the best shot that we have to keep those middle-class, families-supporting manufacturing jobs right here in Superior.”
He said the impact would be felt in sectors like transportation, banking, warehousing, hospitality and retail.
“If we do not build NTEC, we will continue in decline here in America,” U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., said. “If we want to see a strong ascendant America, we have to have affordable energy.”
Tiffany urged people to contact the mayor and the City Council at a grassroots level to support the NTEC project.
“We are the best in America at reducing emissions,” Tiffany said. “When you look at the reduction in emission from the 1990s to now, we’re the ones in America actually doing that. China and India are not.”
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NTEC will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost one million tons per year, said Brent Ridge, president and CEO of Dairyland Power Cooperative. He said it will also provide the ability to integrate more renewable energy into the grid because the plant would operate when needed to replace those intermittent resources.
“So what happens when this project goes into operation, we’re going to see less CO2 emissions,” Ridge said. “We’re going to see a more reliable grid and we’re going to see more cost-effective energy across the region.”
State Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Cameron, said direct beneficiaries of the project include farmers in Barron County, loggers in Price County and residents of Bayfield County in addition to Superior.
“Even though it’s locally important, there is a big picture here,” Quinn said.
“NTEC isn’t just an environmental win,” said State Rep. Angie Sapik, R-Lake Nebagamon. “It’s an economic boon for Superior, Douglas County and northwest Wisconsin. NTEC serves as a powerhouse for harnessing the energy of natural gas for the betterment of northern Wisconsin and our neighbors.”
This story was updated at 4 p.m., Monday, April 1, 2024, to correct the name of Megan Novak, the state director for Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin. It was initially posted at 1 p.m., Monday, April 1.
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