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20 April 2004 - The recent breakdown of a coal-fired power plant in Cohasset, Minn., is hitting Minnesota Power's customers, both residential and industrial, square in the pocketbook.
Statements sent out last week warned many northern Minnesota homeowners that their monthly energy costs would climb about $5 above the norm for the coming few months.
But industrial customers will feel the sting even more keenly. Margaret Hodnik, Minnesota Power's manager of public affairs, estimated that large commercial customers will see their total energy costs rise by about five or six per cent.
To put that in perspective, Johathan Holmes, general manager of Ispat Inland's Minorca Mine near Virginia, said the charge will probably add about $750 000 to the utility costs of his operation during the course of the outage. And he pointed out that several larger Iron Range taconite producers will see cost increases well in excess of $1m.
"It's an unfortunate thing to have happen, but we can't do anything about it," Holmes said, adding, "I don't believe it will affect our production, but it definitely will affect our bottom line." A short circuit in one of the wire coils that wrap around the core of Unit 3 of Minnesota Power's Boswell Electric Station forced its shutdown. The generator - the largest of four units at the Cohasset plant supplies 535 MW of power, about one-quarter of the power Minnesota Power's customers use.
The company also operates a merchant power plant at Taconite Harbor, but Hodnik said Minnesota Power already has commitments to sell electricity from that facility to other power companies.
Hodnik said Minnesota Power has been forced to buy power on the wholesale market to meet its customers' needs, driving up costs.
Boswell Unit 3 is more than 30 years old, and was scheduled for an overhaul in 2007, Hodnik said, but recent difficulties pushed up that time line. The generator likely will remain down until the end of May, she said, but customers have been informed their bills may not return to normal until after July. Workers will take advantage of the shutdown to also overhaul Unit 3's turbine.
Hodnik said Minnesota Power has a good track record of maintaining its generators and upgrading them before breakdowns occur.
Boswell Unit 4 underwent a scheduled overhaul a few years ago.
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