North Star Port

troubled area" and hopefully "encourage a new era of broad-based economic devel- opment" throughout the region. Stacking years of success, the facil- ity added 16 new customers in 1987. Combined with increased demand from Detroit Edison, it produced a record year. Portwide coal tonnage jumped 32% and continued climbing through the 1990s, as MERC supplied a growing portfolio throughout the United States and Canada. Unit trains from Burlington Northern and later BNSF rolled into MERC from the west, feeding a steady parade of thousand-foot boats bound for power plants across the Great Lakes region. Part of the facility's allure was the origin of its coal—the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. Western coal was less expensive than eastern coal and also burned cleaner, helping companies comply with Phase II of the Acid Rain Program under the Clean Air Act, which took effect in 2000. At the time, coal plants produced about 74%—roughly three-quarters—of all electricity in the Midwest, according to the Environmental Law & Policy Center, and the Port of Duluth-Superior served as a key link in that supply chain. Glob- ally, the maritime coal trade established new highs, approaching 500 million tons. Through the St. Lawrence Seaway, coal topped 9% of the total float in 2000. Only low water levels slowed the pace from Duluth-Superior. Fred Shusterich, former MERC president, told Brochu that they could've shipped another 700,000 tons in 2000, if not for the draft restrictions. MERC also moved 360,000 tons of coal by truck that year. KING COAL Coal remained Duluth-Superior's king cargo until 2004, when iron ore edged it, but 2005 marked another surge with waterborne coal shipments exceeding 20 million tons for the first time. Coal remained the port's tonnage leader for six consecutive years, peaking over 22 million tons in 2008. No other commod- ity has topped 22 million tons since. "It was a remarkable time," said Kevin Beardsley, who worked at MERC before coming to the Port Authority in 2014 and ascending to executive director in 2025. "The team, the facility, the demand— everything was in place to capture that moment of opportunity." Coal tonnage slipped to 18.4 million tons in 2009, then dipped sharply in 2011 and again in 2016, as regulatory changes and reduced natural gas prices quashed coal demand. Since 2020, only about 6 million tons of coal per season sailed from Duluth- Superior, a level unseen since the early 1980s. In 2025, DTE Energy—formerly Detroit Edison—confirmed that MERC will close in June 2026, ending 50 years of coal transshipment at a facility that smashed records and exceeded its promise while helping power states and provinces throughout the Great Lakes region. DULUTHPORT.COM | 7 The MERC facility became one of the port's most efficient and prolific loading docks through the 1990s and 2000s.

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