The last remaining partners in the construction of the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant announced yesterday that they would not continue the project. They proposed a 500 to 600 megawatt expansion of an existing coal burning power plant located near Milbank, South Dakota. The expansion would have been built on the shores of Big Stone Lake, headwaters to the Minnesota River, near the Minnesota border.

“We are excited to see that the economic realities have finally been acknowledged,” said Darrell Gerber, Clean Water Action Program Coordinator. “Not only was this project bad for public health, the Minnesota River and the environment it would have been bad for the pocketbook of many rural communities.”

Ottertail Power-- proposer and developer of the multi-utility coal power proposal Big Stone II-- today announced its withdrawl from the project. This news means the coal plant expansion project is likely dead.

Elk River Municipal Utilities yesterday rejected a proposal to become a partial owner in Big Stone II. Elk River’s rejection was the same day as a decision by Basin Electric Power in South Dakota to pull plans for a new coal-fired power plant.

At a June 29, special meeting of the Elk River Municipal Utility (ERMU) and the City Council to discuss alternatives for their energy supply in 2018, the Council moved to table discussion of investment the Big Stone II coal project until  July 13. 

One of the options presented was investing in 30 megawatts of the Big Stone II coal plant expansion for $90 million.  

The Elk River Municipal Utility is considering buying into the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant proposed to be built near Milbank, South Dakota. While other utilities and other states across the Midwest and the nation are abandoning plans for building new coal plants, the Big Stone II proposers continue down this path, which critics call "uneconomic and environmentally irresponsible."