Follow The Money:

Xcel Energy in Minnesota just spent over $600 million,
. . . (twice as much as forecast)
. . . retrofitting one of their nuclear power plants.

Utilities operate in a bizarre world,
. . . where we do not account for,
. . . the enormous health or environmental cost,
. . . of acquiring and delivering energy.

Energy customers are only allowed to order our energy choices,
. . . from the very limited buffet set by our utility.

But Renewable Energy doesn’t have to be built on a massive scale,
. . . or owned by a utility.

Here’s a question that’s at the heart of this change in the energy system:
. . . How much do Minnesotans pay each year,
. . . to import fossil fuels to power their energy system?

The answer is $20 billion.   That’s almost 10% of the entire state economy.

Minnesota has enough wind, sun, and other renewable resources,
. . . to supply the vast majority of its energy needs from within the state.  
. . . And if the money for that energy stays in the state,
. . . it circulates and multiplies within the economy several times over.

The Great Recession largely killed the growth in energy sales.  
. . . Normally as the economy picks back up,
. . . so does energy consumption,
. . . but that’s not happening this time.