CEO: utilities must join climate-change debate
NORTH DAKOTA - The chief executive of a North Dakota-based electric power cooperative says utilities must be engaged in the climate-change debate and use their unified voice.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative CEO Ron Harper says utilities can help develop a comprehensive plan that addresses climate change, encourages technology development and gives utilities time to develop that technology.
His comments came during Basin Electric's annual meeting.
Harper also said utilities must fight to protect coal's place in the nation's energy future. But he says there's also a responsibility to explore new ways to use it.
Basin Electric provides power to nine states: Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico.
Related News

Canada's nationwide climate success — electricity
OTTAWA - It's our country’s one big climate success so far.
"All across Canada, electricity generation has been getting much cleaner. It's our country’s one big climate success so far,"
To illustrate how quickly electric power is being cleaned up, what's still left to do, and the benefits it brings, I've dug into Canada's latest emissions inventory and created a series of charts below.
The sector that could
Climate pollution by Canadian economic sector, 2005 to 2017My first chart shows how Canada's economic sectors have changed their climate pollution since 2005.
While most sectors have increased their pollution or made little progress in the climate…