The Emerald City
The St. Paul Port Authority helps local businesses decrease their energy costs with green practices
When Xcel Energy announced plans to convert its coal-fired High Bridge plant into a natural gas peaking facility in 2005, St. Paul recycling mill Rock-Tenn learned it would lose its steam power, putting 475 well-paying jobs on the line. But with the help of the St. Paul Port Authority, Rock-Tenn and its employees are thriving with lower energy costs and a green outlook.
Rock-Tenn’s St. Paul location is the largest paper recycling plant in the state, recycling 1,000 tons of paper a day—much of it reborn as high-quality boxboard for food manufacturers. Without an alternate energy source to replace the steam line power from Xcel, however, leaders at Rock-Tenn considered shutting down altogether.
“[Rock-Tenn] was within days of closing the plant and losing those 475 competitively paying jobs,” says Tom Collins, director of marketing and communications at the St. Paul Port Authority. “We wanted to save jobs for the city.”
Working with the company and the Rock-Tenn Community Advisory Panel (RCAP)—a group of concerned St. Paul residents—the Port Authority managed a $4 million study mandated and financed by the Minnesota State Legislature. The study researched alternative fuel sources in order to find the cleanest, most efficient energy source available.
Pete Klein, Port Authority vice president of finance, says the mill currently uses a natural gas and fuel oil combination, but expects the Port Authority will help implement a biogas energy solution this year. Biogas is a clean-burning, renewable energy source that comes from the anaerobic digestion of corn, manure and other organic waste material. It could cost 10 to 20 percent less than natural gas, and it will lessen Rock-Tenn’s energy bill—as well as air pollution in St. Paul.
Inspired by the Rock-Tenn project, the Port Authority started the Trillion Btu Program, which will help other companies in the area implement renewable energy sources into their processes. The program provides energy audits for companies, paid for by a utility’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) funds. Engineering studies—offered at a discount— would provide a blueprint for energy efficiency improvements, and the resulting savings would pay for program expenses over time. The Port Authority estimates the program will save 1 trillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy every year—the total annual energy used by half of the buildings in downtown St. Paul.
“For the Port Authority, the retention of 475 very well-paying positions is key,” says Port Authority president Louis Jambois. “But equally important is the reduction of carbon emissions and pollutants into the atmosphere. It’s a wonderful opportunity… to be trying to solve one of the key issues in our country today.”
-ANDREA LAHOUZE