Participation in the RFS to Help Koda Energy Continue to Employ Workers, Utilize Region’s Waste Wood
Washington, DC – January 21, 2019 – The president of a biomass combined heat and power (CHP) facility located in Shakopee, Minnesota, sent a letter to EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler today, urging the agency to promptly process applications by biomass power facilities to participate in the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The facility is jointly owned by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), a federally recognized Indian tribe, and Rahr Corporation, a family-owned producer and distributor of malt and brewing products for the beer, distilling, and wine making industries.
“It is crucial that our facility be allowed to participate in the RFS program, as Congress intended, immediately,” said Stacy Cook, president of Koda Energy LLC. “Our facility provides good jobs for dozens in the Shakopee area, and it makes good use out of waste wood from all over the Minneapolis region. Unfortunately, times are increasingly tough as federal and state incentives have benefitted other energy technologies over biomass. Being able to participate in the RFS will help ensure that our facility can remain open.”
“Congress gave them the right to generate RINs through the RFS program 11 years ago, and the EPA approved this plan in 2014,” said Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of Biomass Power Association. “Yet the EPA still hasn’t processed even one application for electric RIN generation. It’s time for the EPA to honor its commitment to enable this biomass power facility in Minnesota, and others that contribute to rural communities across America, to participate in the RFS.”
The full text of the letter is below. This letter is the latest in a series of letters urging the EPA to process eRIN applications. The Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations, and a bipartisan group of eight California House members weighed in last year supporting the proposal. In September, more than 110 biomass, biogas and waste-to-energy organizations sent a letter to Acting Administrator Wheeler on the issue.