If you get your electricity from one of the distribution cooperatives listed below, you might be asked to pay $8,000 ($1.1 billion total from all customers) to finance a project that adds no new electricity to the grid, will double the cost of electricity generated from the existing coal plant and will take 50 years to recoup the initial cost in tax credits, (tax credits which are even more money coming out of your pocket!) Nuts, right! The project is called Project Tundra. Read further to learn why this is a bad investment.

Minnkota Power Cooperative is a wholesale power supplier made up of the following distribution cooperatives:

• Beltrami Electric Cooperative- https://www.beltramielectric.com/contact-information
• Cass County Electric Cooperative- https://casscountyelectric.com/contact-us
• Cavalier Rural Electric Cooperative- https://www.ndarec.com/content/contact-us
• Clearwater- Polk Electric Cooperative- http://www.clearwater-polk.com
• Nodak Electric Cooperative- https://www.nodakelectric.com/contact/
• North Star Electric Cooperative- https://northstarelectric.coop/contact/
• PKM Electric Cooperative- https://www.pkmcoop.com/contact-us/
• Red Lake Electric Cooperative- https://redlakeelectric.com/contact-us/contact-form/
• Red River Valley Electric Cooperative- https://rrvcoop.com/form/contact
• Roseau Electric Cooperative- https://www.roseauelectric.coop/contact
• Wild Rice Electric Cooperative- https://www.wildriceelectric.com/contact-us.html

If you are a member of one of these cooperatives you are an investor- owner and have a say on how your cooperative operates. Each cooperative has a board (that you elect) and sends a representative from this board to fill a spot on the Minnkota Power Cooperative Board.

In the first quarter of 2021 the Minnkota board anticipates making a decision on Project Tundra. Please, sign below to urge this board to vote against Project Tundra. Read about the project here. https://www.projecttundrand.com These are the reasons we invite you to voice your opposition:

1. There is NO convincing scientific evidence that it would be successful at the scale needed for it to make a difference. Project Tundra uses about 40% of the energy produced by the coal plant to solely to capture the carbon. This will double the cost of the electricity from this plant. (If you include the cost of equipment it will multiply the cost by ten.) 
2. Similar carbon capture facilities (outside North Dakota) have shut down because they were not viable.
3. There is potential for damaging the earth and water supplies.
4. Project Tundra will prevent the advancement of renewable energy. Coal takes a long time to ramp up to get on the power grid, therefore it does not offer the flexibility needed to turn off and on when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining or when there is peak demand.
5. We are seeing a transition away from coal (and oil, which has been accelerated by the pandemic.) When the coal plants reach the end of their usefulness, no reasonable bank or utility will want to invest in a new one.
6. Renewable energy is cheaper and needs our investment dollars for improving efficiency and making it accessible to everyone. 
7. Neighboring states do not want our coal energy. North Dakota produces more energy than it consumes.
8. Project Tundra does nothing to address the other pollutants emitted from coal plants: nitrogen dioxide, mercury, sulfur dioxide...
9. Project Tundra is expensive and will not benefit the average North Dakotan or Minnesotan.

Please, if you are a member of one of the cooperatives listed above, sign your name to stop Project Tundra and encourage investment in other modes of energy that offer more flexibility and environmental friendliness, such as a natural gas facility (which pairs better with renewable energy.)