Superior’s NTEC Supporters Hold Rally As Mayor Paine Responds

SUPERIOR, Wis. – At least 100 people rallied outside Superior’s City Hall Tuesday evening in support of the proposed Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC).

The natural gas-powered electrical plant had unanimous support by the city council and Mayor Jim Paine in 2019, but over the last year, Mayor Paine and some council members have been working to stop the project. They say the plant is harmful to the environment and not necessary. The Northern Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades Council organized today’s rally, which featured several union leaders.

“This is what we do. This is who we are. We are Superior. Look around. Look at, here, look at these signs, look at the support, look at the trucks. But most importantly, look at yourselves. You’re the ones who are going to benefit from this. This is something that we need,” said Dan Olson, former Superior city councilor and manager of the Laborers Local 1091.

Organized labor and Minnesota Power say NTEC is an important part of the company’s strategy toward a carbon-free energy supply.

Meanwhile, Superior-Douglas County Chamber of Commerce president Taylor Pedersen spoke at Tuesday’s rally in support of NTEC.

“I am not a part of a union. But I am proud to stand up here beside our union partners in support of this project. The Nemadji Trail Energy Center is good for labor. It’s good for our community. And it’s good for business,” Pedersen said.

Besides NTEC signs, organized labor brought out an inflatable Rat outside city hall, and early this morning, the union parked it right outside the home of Mayor Jim Paine.

FOX 21 met with Mayor Paine in his office during the rally. He maintains he supports labor. But when it comes to NTEC, his issues are about the environment, homeowners and burial grounds near the site, among other concerns.

“Obviously some folks are very passionate about the project. If people are going to make money off this project, either because they are a part of Minnesota Power or because they would get a job building it, I understand why they would be passionate about getting it approved. But for the folks who have to live next to it, who have to breathe the air, that would lose their riverfront, whose cemetery would be disintegrated, who would have to pay for this project — which is all of us in Superior, which is everybody in Duluth. We’re pretty passionate about it, too.” Paine said.

Paine told FOX 21 he is determined to keep NTEC out of his city. He has taken his voice against the plant to Madison and even recently Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile at the rally, a union member announced he’s running against Superior city councilor Nicholas Ledin in the upcoming April election as a write-in candidate. Ledin does not support NTEC, but Weston Morris does.

“If elected, I plan to serve this position with honor, pride, respect, and responsibility. I will be a voice for our district and I will pledge to do the work of the people to the best of my ability,” Morris said.