Free Ideas for Iron Range Future with Aaron Brown

KAXE | By Heidi Holtan

Published October 13, 2021 at 4:30 PM CDT

This grand old building is the Hibbing Public Utilities power plant. It sits between the historic Howard Street business district and the sprawling campus of Bennett Park.

This morning we talked with KAXE/KBXE longtime contributor Aaron Brown about his recent blog post of "free ideas" on the future of the Iron Range.

People around local politics often like to “admire problems.” In short, people like to look at problems, complain about them, even lose sleep over them, but then take few steps to actually solve those issues. Sometimes I’m reminded that talking about economic diversification for the Iron Range or the broad concept of “change” isn’t enough. So today I’m giving out three free ideas. They’re free! Take them, use them, or throw them away.Here’s the first one.The public utilities plants at Hibbing and Virginia continue to vex local leaders. Plagued by old infrastructure and a changing energy marketplace, they now generate many complaints — some fair, some not. When these facilities were each built about 100 years ago they represented forward-thinking energy policy. They produced low cost electricity, yes, but also delivered a remarkable steam heating network.

Interested in local history? Check out Aaron Brown & Karl Jacob's podcast produced for KAXE/KBXE with funding from the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund - Power In the Wilderness.