N.D. officials call for power plant exemption from Minn. tax

North Dakota officials say Minnesota regulators should exempt the state's power plants from new carbon dioxide taxes.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is considering new charges ranging from $9 per ton to $34 per ton of carbon dioxide. That would make North Dakota-generated power from coal-fired plants much more expensive than wind or nuclear.

Governor John Hoeven chairs North Dakota's Industrial Commission, which promotes the state's coal industry. Hoeven said North Dakota is working to reduce CO2 from the state's coal fired utilities.

"Not only are we sequestering CO2, but we have now passed model legislation, which will enable our companies to do it on a broader basis," Hoeven said. "And so, really, we're moving forward with solutions to better manage greenhouse gasses and we want them to work with us in this process."

In a protest letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Hoeven said Minnesota can't impose the charges -- because it's against the Constitution's commerce clause. The PUC will decide the issue later.

Information for this report was provided courtesy of Dave Thompson, Prairie Public Broadcasting.

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