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first published week of:   08/10/2015

Clean Power Plan puts SD's energy future in flux
by john hult

If South Dakota can produce enough wind and solar power to sell across its borders, it could become the major clean energy player early backers of wind energy predicted.

But nothing in energy is ever simple or certain.

South Dakota's Congressional delegation has pledged to dismantle the federal government's new Clean Power Plan, designed to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent.

Sixteen states have promised to challenge the plan in court, and the next president could knock it out of commission.

Wind and solar power alone can't sustain a power grid, utilities say, as they can't provide constant power. Quick-starting natural gas plants and hybrid plants are needed during down times, and there aren't enough of them in the state.

Utilities in South Dakota and around the country have been adding renewables in recent years, but companies and co-ops say the moving pieces can be difficult to track and plan for, given the industry's complexity and the expectation of guaranteed reliability from the nation's consumers. continued…

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