ALLETE CEO Tells Shareholders That Regional Economic Growth Requires an Affordable, Balanced Mix of Power Generation
May 14 2013 - 12:50PM
Business Wire
With industrial demand for around-the-clock affordable
electricity growing, Minnesota Power is continuing on its strategic
path to ensure that tomorrow’s power generation mix is affordable,
reliable and cleaner to meet customer expectations and underpin a
strong regional economy.
That message was delivered to an audience of about 700 people
today at ALLETE’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders by the company’s
chairman, president and CEO, Al Hodnik. Hodnik highlighted ALLETE
(NYSE:ALE) utility division Minnesota Power’s EnergyForward
resource strategy in his remarks at the Duluth Entertainment
Convention Center.
“Our strategy is propelled forward by our significant progress
to date,” Hodnik said. “We have already moved from an energy supply
that was five percent renewable in 2005, to one that is 20 percent
renewable today. We continue to move EnergyForward with
thoughtful and well-timed initiatives. Our long-term goal is to
produce electricity from a balance of one-third renewable energy,
one-third natural gas and one-third coal.”
As part of the regulatory framework, Hodnik explained, Minnesota
Power is obligated to weigh all power generation and conservation
options, respond to a rapidly changing policy landscape, and
minimize environmental impacts while guaranteeing delivery of
cost-effective power to every customer.
“First and foremost, we have a responsibility to make careful
energy choices that protect affordability for our customers,”
Hodnik said. “Our strategic direction is toward a more diverse
energy supply, and it is realistic about the need to provide our
industrial customers with base load energy 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. With EnergyForward, renewables and conservation
will be even more important resources in the future for customers,
though no one should expect that ALLETE will allow affordability
and reliability to be abandoned as we invest and reinvest in our
generation supply.”
Reinvestment includes a major retrofit at Minnesota Power’s
largest, newest and highly efficient base load generating unit,
Boswell 4. As part of EnergyForward, Minnesota Power has
already committed to the conversion of two units at its Laskin
Energy Center from coal to natural gas and the retirement of a
coal-fired unit at Taconite Harbor. These coal-fired unit
reductions in combination with other resource actions will result
in Minnesota Power being 15 years ahead of meeting the state of
Minnesota’s policy goal of 30 percent carbon reduction by 2030,
doing so in 2015. This major reduction is being realized even as
Minnesota Power’s customer load is growing substantially.
The Boswell 4 retrofit project, now awaiting approval from state
regulators, would reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent and
further limit other emissions at a cost of approximately $350
million. When complete, Boswell 4 will meet or exceed all current
and anticipated emission control regulations required by the
Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators.
Hodnik also pointed to the company’s successfully completed
Bison wind generation expansion and its plan to increase base load
renewable power through a power purchase agreement with Manitoba
Hydro. Minnesota Power has begun stakeholder outreach and
regulatory processes to build the transmission required to deliver
this hydropower to the region.
“The proposed Great Northern Transmission Line is a carbon-free
energy transportation solution that is North American in scope but
global in impact, and for Minnesota Power alone it will deliver
enough carbon-free energy to power 125,000 customer homes,” Hodnik
said.
Company officials from Manitoba Hydro in attendance at today’s
meeting echoed their support for the project. “We value the
partnership we’ve developed with ALLETE and Minnesota Power,” said
Manitoba Hydro President and CEO Scott Thomson. “We’re proud to be
taking the lead with them on a project large in scope that
positively affects our energy futures in Minnesota and
Manitoba.”
Shareholders at today’s meeting saw a presentation highlighting
recent successful financial results. In the 12 months following
last year’s meeting on May 8, 2012, ALLETE’s stock price climbed
from $40.05 to a high of $52.25 per share and the common stock
dividend was increased by 3.3 percent.
“Our solid financial results signify that we’re on the right
path both operationally and strategically,” Hodnik said. “ALLETE is
well positioned to execute on its future growth initiatives.”
In other business at the ALLETE Annual Meeting, shareholders
voted their approval of 11 directors to serve for the coming year,
approved an advisory resolution on executive compensation and voted
to increase the amount of stock authorized for issuance under the
company’s non-employee director stock plan.
ALLETE, Inc. is an energy company headquartered in Duluth, Minn.
ALLETE’s energy businesses include Minnesota Power, Superior Water,
Light & Power Co., BNI Coal, and ALLETE Clean Energy. More
information about the company is available at www.allete.com.
The statements contained in this release and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and
investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by
ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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