Category: 3. Business

Northern Minnesota’s largest power company is backing away from plans to develop a proposed $1 billion gas-fired power plant in northern Wisconsin as a result of legal challenges and permitting delays.

In a filing on Friday to Minnesota utility regulators, Duluth-based Minnesota Power said it will no longer buy power or capacity from the planned plant in Superior. On Wednesday, the company terminated an agreement with subsidiary South Shore Energy, which holds a 20-percent share of the project.

The utility was working with La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative and a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative in North Dakota to build the Nemadji Trail Energy Center, or NTEC. Owners of the natural gas plant, which would produce between 550 and 625 megawatts, said it would provide reliable power as they shift away from coal and invest in renewable energy.

Minnesota Power and other owners worked diligently to develop the plant, said vice president of public policy Jennifer Cady in the filing, but delays as a result of litigation and permitting have made it no longer viable.

“Minnesota Power must aggressively pursue procuring dispatchable generation to bring online to ensure reliability of the grid as it intends to meet its cease coal dates of 2030 and 2035,” Cady wrote.

Cady wrote that in Wisconsin, air, wetland and construction stormwater permits have expired due to delays despite more than a dozen permits obtained for the project.

The city of Superior previously denied local approvals. Superior Mayor Jim Paine said the utility’s decision is not surprising.

“It’s been dead for a while,” Paine said of NTEC. “It really did not have a functional path forward after the city opposed it.”

Dairyland Cooperative owns 50 percent of the plant. A Dairyland spokesperson said the cooperative and NTEC partners are evaluating next steps for the project.

Paine argued that Dairyland is unlikely to build a plant outside its service territory on land owned by Minnesota Power. In a statement, Minnesota Power said it’s exploring other locations for gas-fired plants, saying its need for natural gas remains unchanged.

Concerns over the project have been mounting in recent years among residents, tribes and environmental groups. They have raised issues with the plant’s contribution to heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and effects on wetlands.

Jadine Sonoda, campaign coordinator for the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter, said the decision is a step in the right direction.

“We would love to see (Dairyland) talk more about their future investments in transitioning to clean energy and making the electric sector, climate and world that we’re living in safer,” Sonoda said.

In its filing, Minnesota Power said South Shore Energy will continue to work with the projects’ owners to examine a path forward that “balances economic, community and environmental considerations” while addressing the concerns of other stakeholders and tribes.

Lee Sandok Baker lives within two miles of the proposed plant. She’s with the citizens group Neighbors Against NTEC.

“Not only do we not want to see additional fossil fuel plants be built anywhere, we just believe that the spot that they chose here was definitely not the right place for that,” Sandok Baker said.

The proposed plant would be built near a Superior cemetery that contains the remains of roughly 200 ancestors of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The plant’s supporters touted the 350 construction jobs and 25 full-time jobs that would be created with the project along with the contribution of $1 million annually in tax revenues.

The project has faced multiple legal challenges from Indigenous and environmental groups. Last year, Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review its lawsuit challenging the state’s Public Service Commission’s decision to approve the plant. Wisconsin’s highest court declined to hear the case.

Minnesota Power’s decision comes after the sale of its parent company Allete to a Canadian pension fund and a subsidiary of BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager. Opponents feared the $6.2 billion deal would increase utility bills for customers, but the utility argued it would help the company fund its transition to renewable energy. Minnesota mandates electric utilities provide 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.

Minnesota Power said it wouldn’t seek to recover the costs of developing the project from customers.

On December 19, 2025, the Market Participants Division (“MPD”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued relief (see CFTC Letter No. 25-50) on an interim basis permitting certain commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as investment advisers to claim relief from CPO and commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) registration while the CFTC considers further rulemaking.

Background

In 2012, the CFTC rescinded prior Rule 4.13(a)(4) (the “QEP Exemption”), which provided an exemption from registration as a CPO with respect to certain privately offered commodity pools whose investors were limited to qualified eligible persons (“QEPs”) (or alternatively, in the case of non-natural person investors, certain types of accredited investors). QEPs include (i) “qualified purchasers,” as defined in Section 2(a)(51)(A) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), (ii) “knowledgeable employees” as defined in Rule 3c-5 under the 1940 Act, and (iii) certain other categories of investors.¹ The CFTC is presently considering reinstating the QEP Exemption in some form.

No-Action Relief Granted

The relief granted provides that MPD will not recommend pursuing an enforcement action for failure to register against a CPO that is an SEC-registered investment adviser and currently either (i) is registered or would be required to register with the CFTC as a CPO or (ii) relies on an existing exemption from CPO registration pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.13, in each case, with respect to a pool:

• in which interests are exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 and are sold without marketing to the public in the United States;²
• whose investors the CPO reasonably believes are limited to QEPs; and
• with respect to which the CPO files a Form PF.

In order to rely on this relief, CPOs must file a notice via email to the CFTC.

The relief also provides that MPD will not recommend pursuing an enforcement action against a CPO relying on this relief if such CPO fails to register, or withdraws from registration, as a CTA, solely with respect to the relevant pools.

The relief further states that CPOs that deregister solely due to this relief are not subject to the provisions of CFTC Rule 4.13(e)(2), which would otherwise require such CPOs to offer all participants in the relevant pools an automatic right to redeem their interests from the pools in connection with such deregistration.

By its terms, the relief will remain available until the CFTC promulgates rules addressing the reinstatement of the QEP Exemption or publicly determines not to promulgate such rules.

Please contact Leigh R. Fraser, Jeremy A. Liabo, Katherine J. Forrester-Quek or the Ropes & Gray attorney who usually advises you for further information or with any questions you may have.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings, together with her counterparts in Connecticut and Maryland, led a coalition of 50 attorneys general announcing a nearly $150 million settlement with Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler AG for violating state laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices by marketing, selling and leasing vehicles equipped with illegal and undisclosed emissions defeat devices designed to circumvent emissions standards. The settlement also includes more than $200 million in potential consumer relief.

“For nearly a decade, Mercedes sold vehicles that were marketed as clean and environmentally responsible while secretly polluting far beyond legal limits,” said AG Jennings. “This settlement holds Mercedes accountable for deceiving consumers, evading emissions laws, and putting public health at risk. We expect honesty in the marketplace and clean air in our communities. Today’s agreement delivers both meaningful penalties and real relief for affected drivers.”

“Vehicle emissions are one of the largest contributors to air pollution in Delaware, so our air quality depends on properly operated vehicle emission control systems,” said Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control Sec. Greg Patterson. “All vehicle manufacturers need to do their part by meeting the emission requirements, and we appreciate Attorney General Jennings and her staff leading this multistate investigation and settlement concerning our air.”

Beginning in 2008 and continuing to 2016, the states allege Mercedes manufactured, marketed, advertised, and distributed nationwide more than 211,000 diesel passenger cars and vans equipped with software defeat devices that optimized emission controls during emissions tests, while reducing those controls outside of normal operations. The defeat devices enabled vehicles to far exceed legal limits of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, a harmful pollutant that causes respiratory illness and contributes to the formation of smog. Mercedes engaged in this conduct to achieve design and performance goals, such as increased fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance, that it was unable to meet while complying with applicable emission standards. Mercedes concealed the existence of these defeat devices from state and federal regulators and the public. At the same time, Mercedes marketed the vehicles to consumers as “environmentally-friendly” and in compliance with applicable emissions regulations.
Today’s settlement requires Mercedes-Benz USA and Daimler AG to pay $120 million to the states upon the effective date of the settlement. An additional $29,673,750 will be suspended and potentially waived pending completion of a comprehensive consumer relief program. Delaware will receive $3.6 million through today’s settlement.

The consumer relief program extends to the estimated 39,565 vehicles that had not been repaired or permanently removed from the road in the United States by August 1, 2023. Mercedes must bear the cost of installing approved emission modification software on each of the affected vehicles. The companies must provide participating consumers with an extended warranty and will pay consumers $2,000 per subject vehicle.

The companies must also comply with reporting requirements, reform their practices, and refrain from any further unfair or deceptive marketing or sale of diesel vehicles, including misrepresentations regarding emissions and compliance.
Today’s settlement follows similar settlements reached previously between the states and Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler and German engineering company Robert Bosch GmbH over its development of the cheat software. Automaker Fiat Chrysler and its subsidiaries paid $72.5 million to the states in 2019. Bosch paid $98.7 million in 2019. Volkswagen reached a $570 million settlement with the states in 2016.

Delaware co-led this multistate investigation and settlement with the attorneys general of Connecticut and Maryland. They were assisted by Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Texas.  The final settlement was also joined by Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.

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Washington, DC — Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-05), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Jeffrey Kessler, the Under Secretary for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce, demanding that the Department of Commerce turn over information required by statute regarding the Administration’s intention to approve the sale of advanced AI chips to China despite the significant military application potential of this technology. 

The lawmakers made the request pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). Under ECRA, the Department of Commerce must provide any information obtained in administering the Export Administration Regulations upon the request of the chairman or ranking minority member of the appropriate committee or subcommittee. This includes license applications, as well as license approvals, conditions, and supporting evidence that provide the basis for a licensing decision. 

Ranking Members Meeks and Warren underscored that the requested information is essential given the significant national security implications of allowing the sale of advanced chips to China. “In ECRA, Congress stated the policy of the United States is ‘to restrict the export of items which would make a significant contribution to the military potential of any other country,’” wrote the Democratic lawmakers. “Approving licenses for items like NVIDIA’s H200 chips, which the Justice Department recently described as ‘integral to modern military applications,’ would be deeply at odds with the policy that Congress articulated in ECRA.”

The lawmakers continued: “The President directing you to approve licenses of the H200 falls within a deeply concerning pattern that undercuts our nation’s security. Just last month, you approved the export of tens of thousands of advanced AI chips, worth an estimated $1 billion, to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, despite significant concerns about these countries’ human rights records and their close relationships with the PRC.”

The lawmakers request information on the Administration’s decision to allow the export of H200s to China be provided to Congress by January 12, 2026. The lawmakers also called for Under Secretary Kessler to provide a briefing before the lawmakers’ committees before any H200 license is approved for export.

Washington, DC: Mr. Torres, Mission Chief for El Salvador, issued a statement following in person and virtual discussions over the past months with the Salvadoran authorities on the second review of the 40-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement.

“Progress continues in the negotiations toward a staff level agreement on the second review of the EFF program.

“The economy is expanding at a faster than anticipated pace on the back of improved confidence, record remittances, and buoyant investment. Real GDP growth is projected to reach around 4 percent this year and with very good prospects for next year.

“The authorities’ commitment to fiscal consolidation remains strong—the end-2025 primary balance target is well on track to be met, and the recently approved 2026 Budget is consistent with a further reduction in the deficit along with an expansion in social spending. These efforts are supporting reserve accumulation and a reduction in domestic borrowing in line with program targets.

“The structural agenda is advancing. To help underpin the projected consolidation, an actuarial pension study has been recently published, along with a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework. Financial stability reforms have been approved to strengthen the legal framework for bank resolution, crisis management, and deposit insurance schemes, and Basel III regulations have been recently adopted to enhance liquidity coverage and net stable funding. Meanwhile, a new AML/CFT law has been approved by the Legislative Assembly, better aligning the legal framework with international best practices.

“Finally, negotiations for the sale of the government e-wallet Chivo are well advanced, and discussions with regards to the Bitcoin project continue, centered on enhancing transparency, safeguarding public resources, and mitigating risks.

“Close engagement with the Salvadoran authorities is expected to continue in the period ahead with the objective of reaching a staff level agreement on all policies and reforms needed to complete the second review of the EFF program.

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