Minnesota Power has reached a five-year agreement to supply electricity to US Steel through at least December 2021, according to the energy producer’s owner, ALLETE, Inc.
The largest taconite producer on Minnesota’s Iron Range, US Steel owns the Minntac and Keetac taconite plants and mines on Minnesota’s Iron Range, with a combined production capacity of 22 million tons of iron ore pellets per year. US Steel also has a 14.7 percent minority ownership interest in Hibbing Taconite Co., where the annual production capacity is 9.1 million tons of iron ore pellets.
Minnesota Power filed a petition this week with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission requesting regulatory approval of the new contract. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth; BNI Energy in Center, North Dakota; US Water Services in St. Michael, Minnesota; and has an 8 percent equity interest in the American Transmission Co.