Energy

Twin Cities average gasoline price jumped to $3.53 per gallon this week—up about 18.4 cents from last week, nearly 90 cents higher than a month ago and roughly 58 cents above last year—with Minnesota’s statewide average at $3.43 and diesel averaging about $4.66 (national diesel about $4.98). The rise reflects oil-market turmoil tied to Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, retaliatory strikes and reduced Gulf output that pushed Brent toward $120 a barrel, while the Trump administration has called the increase temporary, framed it as a “very small price to pay,” and urged other nations to help secure shipping lanes.

St. Paul–based Ecolab will tack a 10% to 14% surcharge onto all its products and services starting next month, blaming sharp jumps in oil and natural gas prices driven by the escalating conflict in the Middle East. The company, a major employer and supplier to hotels, restaurants, hospitals, factories and cleaning contractors across the Twin Cities, is effectively passing energy costs straight through to customers rather than absorbing them. That means higher operating costs for local businesses already squeezed by wage, rent and insurance hikes, and sooner or later those costs land in consumers’ laps as pricier meals, room rates, and services. The move also shows how quickly a foreign shooting war filters into metro balance sheets, compounding the gas and diesel spikes residents are already seeing at the pump. For now Ecolab isn’t talking about layoffs or cutbacks — it’s just sending the bill for global turmoil down the chain.

Eagan has approved what reports call Minnesota’s first-ever one-year moratorium on data center and cryptocurrency operations to study potential neighborhood and power impacts. City staff will evaluate issues including power-grid capacity, noise, traffic, heat, water use and tax implications, review how other Minnesota communities are responding, and the pause covers projects within 500 feet of residential zoning or drawing more than 20 megawatts, with draft ordinances expected before the moratorium ends.

State officials unveiled Minnesota’s 2026 Climate Action Framework on Feb. 11 at St. Paul’s North End Community Center, an updated roadmap that leans into the statutory goal of 100% carbon‑free electricity by 2040 and outlines more than 400 specific actions across seven sectors. Built off a 2022 framework and now tied to roughly 40 state laws and over $1 billion in climate‑related funding, the plan targets big cuts in greenhouse‑gas emissions from the power sector, transportation, building heat and agriculture, while promising job growth in clean‑energy fields. MPCA says Minnesota has already distributed $95 million to more than 160 local governments in the past two years to help them prepare for climate impacts, money that includes Minneapolis, St. Paul and other metro cities working on flooding, heat and infrastructure upgrades. Near‑term priorities include actually implementing 100% carbon‑free electricity, accelerating EV adoption and transit decarbonization, cutting emissions from furnaces and boilers in homes and offices, and backing local infrastructure and disaster‑response projects. For Twin Cities residents, this framework is the blueprint agencies and utilities will use to justify future rate cases, building‑code changes, grant programs and transit or land‑use decisions that will show up in monthly bills and neighborhood projects over the next decade.

A large fire and at least one small explosion broke out late Friday night at the University of Minnesota’s main steam plant on the Minneapolis riverfront, prompting a major fire response and temporary evacuations in the immediate area. The plant is a key utility hub that provides steam heat and other services to much of the Minneapolis campus, raising concerns about potential service disruption in the middle of a severe cold snap. Fire crews reported heavy flames inside the facility before bringing the blaze under control; no fatalities were immediately reported, and officials were still assessing structural damage and the cause. University authorities said they were working on contingency planning for campus heating if needed and would update students, staff and nearby residents as they learned more. Social media posts from students and neighbors described loud booms, smoke over the river, and emergency alerts late into the night, underscoring public anxiety about both safety and staying warm. Environmental regulators are expected to review whether any emissions or runoff from firefighting operations affected the Mississippi River corridor.

Minnesota state regulators have ruled that electricity from burning municipal solid waste and some types of wood/biomass can be treated as 'carbon-free' under the state’s 2040 carbon-free standard, a decision with major implications for utilities that serve the Twin Cities. The Public Utilities Commission’s interpretation effectively keeps metro-area garbage burners and biomass contracts in the portfolio of resources utilities can rely on to meet the mandate, even though the plants still emit greenhouse gases and local pollutants. Supporters argue these facilities help manage waste streams and provide reliable baseload or dispatchable power that wind and solar can’t always match, while environmental and climate advocates call the move a shell game that could lock in higher pollution in already overburdened neighborhoods. The ruling is expected to guide Xcel Energy’s and other utilities’ next integrated resource plans and could tilt future rate cases and infrastructure investments that directly affect Minneapolis–Saint Paul bills, air quality, and siting battles.

Enbridge will pay $2.8 million to resolve a breach of the Moose Lake aquifer that occurred during pipeline construction, a finalized settlement that includes the Minnesota DNR enforcement package of environmental projects, a civil penalty, contingency funds and monitoring. Earlier reports had highlighted a $1.6 million component, but the total financial obligation is $2.8 million.

Xcel Energy filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to recover costs for a new distributed battery program, Capacity*Connect, that would deploy dozens of 1–3 MW batteries at commercial sites statewide and scale to 50–200 MW by 2028, forming a utility‑controlled virtual power plant. Xcel says the plan will bolster reliability and help meet the 2040 carbon‑free mandate while shifting purchases to lower‑cost periods, but watchdogs question the value for ratepayers and note Xcel’s Colorado virtual power plant is far cheaper per megawatt and includes broader customer‑side resources.

The United States and European Union imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies on Thursday, prompting a jump in global oil prices that could raise gasoline costs for Minneapolis–Saint Paul drivers in coming days. Analysts and industry watchers say higher crude and wholesale fuel prices typically flow through to the pump, with timing dependent on station inventories and supply contracts.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is holding a public meeting from 6:30–8:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15, at the Washington County Heritage Center Education Center in Stillwater on Xcel Energy’s proposed two-year electric rate increases. Xcel seeks 9.6% in 2025 ($353.3M; about $9.89/month for the average residential customer) and 3.6% in 2026 ($137.5M; about $3.90/month), totaling 13.2% ($490.7M). Public comments are open through Dec. 30, evidentiary hearings are Dec. 17–19, and the PUC’s order deadline is July 31, 2026.