Minnesota utility companies have plans to spend billions on a shift to clean energy, but have long said customers wouldn't bear the brunt of the bill. That's because the billions in federal subsidies and grants from the Inflation Reduction Act would fill in the rest.
Enter Donald Trump.
The president-elect has said he would "rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act." Now, energy companies find themselves navigating uncertain terrain as the new administration begins to take over.
Xcel Energy is expecting $5.7 billion in federal funding by 2040 for projects in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Still, it's unclear whether the GOP has the votes to fully repeal the IRA.
Reporter Walker Orenstein has all of the details about what a second Trump term may mean for President Joe Biden's clean energy bill and the downstream effects it would have on Minnesotans.
Read it all here, and check out the links below for more on the election's potential impacts on the North Star State.
Minneapolis isn't exactly suffering from a lack of new restaurant openings. But more owners are looking to the suburbs as they consider their next venture.
Lower taxes and fewer regulations are just a couple of what has restaurateurs looking to set up in communities like Prior Lake and Stillwater.
There was a time when our best and brightest believed the largest subspecies of Canada goose, Branta canadensis maxima, was extinct. And yet, a flock of the majestic birds secretly lived in Rochester, where they not only survived but thrived.
But how? And why are these avian scourges now so ubiquitous?
That's the question at the center of this week's edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune's reader-powered reporting project. Reporter Erica Pearson has the lowdown on how the North Star State's third-most populous city saved the giant Canada goose.
There was a prompt going around on Bluesky earlier this week that asked people to point out what they believed was the "weirdest, most inexplicable" building in Minneapolis. The parameters:
• It's gotta be ugly and big.
• It has to be so ugly and big that it's actually kind of awesome.
• It's quite clearly got a vision.
• That vision is demented.
Answers ranged from the Minneapolis Central Library to Northwestern National Life Building but Sen. Tina Smith chose the Prospect Park Water Tower, otherwise known as the Witch's Hat. Me? I think it's pretty demented that there is a full-on incinerator just a couple of blocks away from Target Field. It's pretty ugly to boot, too.
What say you, dear reader? What's the weirdest and most inexplicable building in Minneapolis? Email us at essential@startribune.com or tag me on Bluesky: @ederc.bsky.social.
