After Years-Long Community Objection, Dairyland Power Pulls the Plug on NTEC Gas Plant

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.

SUPERIOR, Wisconsin — Today, Dairyland Power Coop announced the cancellation of plans for NTEC, which was proposed to be built on the shores of Lake Superior, and asked the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) to withdraw its permits.

The Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC), a 625 MW natural gas plant, has faced years of public pushback from local residents, Dairyland Power customers, members of the Fond du Lac and Red Cliff Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa, and environmental groups.

“We applaud Dairyland Power Coop and South Shore Energy for formally cancelling the NTEC gas plant and asking for their permits to be withdrawn, after the clock ran out on their PSC permits,” said Elizabeth Ward, Wisconsin Chapter Director. “NTEC has faced years of public opposition and was outdated as soon as it was proposed. This is a victory for the Great Lakes, our climate, and the city of Superior, whose city leaders have relentlessly worked to protect residents from the air pollution caused by a dirty, expensive gas plant. We thank them for their tireless leadership and attribute this success to them.”

“NTEC was never a good idea,” said Evan Mulholland, Healthy Communities Program Director at MCEA. “NTEC would have been bad for the climate, too expensive, unnecessary for grid reliability, and harmful to public health, and it was proposed in the wrong location. MCEA is grateful for all the organizers and partners who helped with the campaign against NTEC over the past 10 years.”

“This victory is the culmination of more than seven years of relentless work to defeat a project that would have brought tremendous harm to communities in Superior and beyond,” said Clean Wisconsin Director of Legal Advocacy Brett Korte. “Clean Wisconsin first intervened at the Public Service Commission to stop the plant in 2019 and the fight continued in court and city council chambers, before agencies, and in public conversation. We are grateful to all the partners including tribal advocates, other environmental organizations, and community members who never stopped fighting and believing that against all odds, this gas plant would be defeated.”