HERC - Hennepin Energy Recovery Center

[EOst]

Look, there is zero chance that HERC moves and gets redeveloped even if the waste to energy use disappears. The district heating capacity is needed to keep downtown Minneapolis running and there is not a lot of redundancy built into the system. You would need to have the replacement plant up and running before HERC was shut down, which means a huge up-front cost for Hennepin County before they could see any potential proceeds from a sale. Finding another large site to build a heating plant (of whatever kind) close enough to downtown Minneapolis to supply steam would also be an absolute nightmare, even before you start talking about the regulatory and political hurdles. Think Roof Depot x1000. The community engagement alone would require years of work and lots of money.

Consider also that the land is almost certainly intensely polluted. Before this area was HERC, it was an active railyard. The kind of remediation you would need to bring this to residential standards would be very expensive. And even without the industrial plant, there are also significant access issues to the site. The Target Field Station plaza is 20-30' above ground level and blocks nearly all access from the east. On the north side, you have elevated light rail tracks that were not designed to accommodate a new street grid beneath. The west side of the site is also blocked by light rail tail tracks... maybe those won't be needed anymore with BLRT and SWLRT, but I wouldn't count on it. Some of these things could be changed, but they would come with big price tags of their own. That's also not considering whatever infrastructure costs a developer would try to pass on to the city/county for new roads and utilities.

Even if the land really is extraordinarily valuable, it would be far easier politically and financially for Hennepin to just convert the plant to another energy source (be it natural gas or whatever) and call it good. Maybe they could look at downsizing the facility and moving in stages, but I wouldn't count on it.

[thespeedmccool]

The community engagement alone would require years of work and lots of money.

Sounds like they better get started, considering the state is (more or less?) requiring them to close it by 2040.

It would be far easier politically and financially for Hennepin to just convert the plant to another energy source (be it natural gas or whatever)

I somehow think converting HERC to a fossil fuel plant downtown would not be more politically feasible than shutting it down lmao. There's no world where people currently upset with HERC would just go "oh okay, it's a fossil fuel plant now, that's better."

HERC is on the way out. It's not really a question of if but when. It's incumbent on Hennepin County to figure out how to replace it.

[twincitizen]

This whole situation really begs the question of why did Walz sign the bill with this provision in it? I know the Mpls delegation in the legislature had a lot of influence this past session, but this provision making it through final negotiations is pretty wild. Where were the County's lobbyists on this one? I'm not sure there are even 4 votes on the Hennepin County board (yet) in favor of shutting it down.

I don't think anyone is of the mindset that "HERC must remain in this location forever". It's obviously not ideal. But the trash has to go somewhere, landfilling it is very obviously a worse outcome both environmentally and financially for the County, and as EOst articulated very well, you can't just turn off the steam generating aspect of it without something to replace it, nor will the land be easy to redevelop due to the pollution and access constraints. I also really doubt a new burner will be built within Hennepin County, so the only alternative is a massive new landfill (or several) somewhere.

We need to severely reduce the amount of waste, both by increasing participation in organics collection/composting and probably banning more single use plastics. There is zero chance HERC is closed without dramatically reducing the amount of waste generated in Hennepin County. Is anyone working on banning single use plastics?

[EOst]

I somehow think converting HERC to a fossil fuel plant downtown would not be more politically feasible than shutting it down lmao. There's no world where people currently upset with HERC would just go "oh okay, it's a fossil fuel plant now, that's better."

HERC is on the way out. It's not really a question of if but when. It's incumbent on Hennepin County to figure out how to replace it.

This just isn't how county planning works. Again, keeping the steam generating capacity of HERC is non-optional; without it the district heating system collapses or comes pretty close, and a lot of downtown customers would have to convert back to individual natural gas systems which would be an environmental catastrophe. The statute also puts a gun to Hennepin's head in terms of timeline; they MUST have some kind of replacement system online before the statutory deadline.

Imagine you're a county bureaucrat tasked with navigating all that. If you put all of your eggs into the "build a new plant and sunset HERC" basket, you need a fairly high level of confidence that you can get all of that done on a quick timeline, because you need at least a few years of runway to get that plant built and running before the statutory deadline. The problem with this route is that there are many, many potential risk points, and any of them could delay the project by years. MAYBE at that point you could get a statutory extension to make everything work, but that's an enormous uncontrolled risk. If the timeline extension doesn't come through, or if any of those risk factors turns out to be a total blocker, then the whole system is SOL and it's all your fault. And to this point, Hennepin already tried hard to push the HERC sunset deadline back and were told to piss up a rope, so the prospects of the Legislature working with you to get an issue fixed seem pretty remote.

On the other hand, if you start from the perspective that whatever new steam plant will be housed at HERC, most of your uncertainty and risk factors go away. Yes, there are political difficulties in getting any kind of new system online, but they're predictable and controllable risks. You can design around them to some extent, e.g. by looking to build some kind of low- or zero-emissions heat plant on the property instead (geothermal? who knows). You have site control, you have most of the permits you would already need anyway, and you have all of the steam pipe infrastructure already in-place. It's just vastly less risky and more predictable, which is what you need when you're trying to replace critical infrastructure.

[COLSLAW5]

The U of M one runs on natural gas but Center Point wouldn't upgrade their pipe size so they get curtailed to diesel on high demand days. They also have a small coal fired one left as well but it doesn't get used as much anymore

[thespeedmccool]

The possibility that a new fossil fuel burning plant is built in downtown Minneapolis is 0%. The political difficulties of proposing a new natural gas steam plant in the North Loop are not by any means predictable or controllable. It's a well-resourced, politically active neighborhood of entitled white progressives who will raise holy hell if Hennepin County were to dare to replace HERC with something even environmentally worse than a garbage burner. The significantly more politically likely path (even though it's the more costly and murky path) is that the county just redevelops this lot, finds some way to replace the steam generating capabilities (maybe on the current lot,) and builds a new garbage burner out on some empty lot in Wright County. Look at how activists reacted when the city dared to build a public works facility near a highway in a pre-existing industrial area. If you think replacing HERC with a natural gas plant is feasible, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Hennepin County has absolutely been dealt a tough hand, but the ball's in their court now. Demonstrating progress on this might soften the legislature and win the county an extension, but they'll have to actually satisfy progressives to make that happen. Better get planning now on something ambitious instead of shrugging and saying "I guess we'll just decide to build a fossil fuel steam plant in downtown Minneapolis in the year of our lord 2023 on some of the most valuable land in the Upper Midwest."

I would also be on the lookout for broader solid waste management reform this legislative session. Speaker Hortman herself said it's on her radar. That might ease the burden of closing HERC in the future.

[DanPatchToget]

Is it not possible to replace the HERC plant with something that runs on renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.)?

[BBMplsMN]

Hennepin County might not be too stressed out about it yet. 2040 might not be ample time to figure out what to do with HERC but it’s plenty of time to work to change the legislation that requires its closure. We weren’t allowed to study Dan Patch until eventually we could again.

[Silophant]

Is it not possible to replace the HERC plant with something that runs on renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.)?

Sure - here's an article about just that. As is usually the case, the primary issue is that it'll be very expensive - the city, county, state, or all of them are probably going to have to push Cordia on it.

It would make a ton of sense to build a major zero-carbon district energy plant on the HERC site, though. Not only is it too polluted to easily convert to residential and hemmed in by tracks as mentioned above, but it's already tied into the steam network and, just as importantly, is connected to the transmission grid as well. If they were to wind up needing 30 or 40 megawatts of power, the infrastructure is already there. Getting that much capacity to the other big plant by the Normandy Inn, for example, would be quite an undertaking.

[Bob Stinson's Ghost]

Electricity will never be cheap enough to use it for district heating.

[luigipaladio]

HERC significantly reduces the amount of trash that would otherwise end up going to landfills, which are effectively time bombs slowly contaminating soil and water with a highly toxic mix of chemicals that don't break down readily except at very, very high temperatures. HERC was not intended first and foremost as a solution to servicing a heating district or as source of electric power. Those are side effects of a process meant to eliminate as much trash as possible. A high temperature trash burner could be built almost anywhere, but that would eliminate its use as a source or heat for a district heating system. The power production aspect would remain the same no matter where such burner would be built.

We do need a technology that can efficiently burn or destroy trash with a minimum of pollution. Compared to the garbage mountains that we keep creating to handle our trash, HERC is not such a bad alternative. No doubt the systems used there could be improved and made more efficient and ultimately safer.

[thespeedmccool]

Hennepin County board passed a resolution today declaring its intention to close HERC. 2028 to 2040 timeframe

[Silophant]

Here's the resolution, and also Commissioner Fernando's statement. Seems like the County is fully aware of the implications of what the Legislature has required them to do, even if the Legislature doesn't seem to be.

We'll see what the report comes up with.

[twincitizen]

Fernando’s statement includes a lot of good info to begin answering “where do go from here?” Great points made that this project to close HERC will require years of parallel and collaborative efforts by the state (funding, statewide policies on waste streams, landfills, etc.) and cities (increasing recycling & organics participation, especially at multi-unit properties).

Thirteen cities are the main users of the HERC with the City of Minneapolis being the single biggest generator of waste in Hennepin. Minneapolis must play a crucial role in achieving climate action and zero waste goals. Cities must:

-Establish organized commercial collection, including multi-family.
-Require mandatory large generator waste reduction and diversion plans.
-Increase hauler accountability by requiring reporting and service standards.
-Implementing multi-family recycling programs with adequate staffing.
-Improve options for managing large items and specialty recyclables in the multi-family sector.
-Adopt specifications to increase the use of food-derived compost in city projects.
-Develop a construction and demolition waste diversion ordinances requiring recycling on construction and demolition projects.
-Enhance enforcement of existing city ordinances.