# Monticello, Minnesota *City in Wright County, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River; site of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.* Monticello is a city of 14,455 people, as counted in the 2020 census, on the [[Mississippi River]] in [[Wright County, Minnesota]].[^1] It was platted in 1854 and incorporated in 1856. It was the county's first seat until [[Buffalo]] obtained the seat in 1867.[^1][^2] The city is home to the [[Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant]], an [[Xcel Energy]] facility that began operating in 1971.[^1][^3] The City of Monticello's own page calls the plant "one of the largest property tax payers" and gives its workforce as approximately 640, including plant-related contractors. The plant's share of Wright County's total tax base is not published in any source the project located.[^4] On November 22, 2022, Xcel confirmed a leak of roughly 400,000 gallons of tritium-contaminated water and notified state officials and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Xcel and the [[Minnesota Pollution Control Agency]] (MPCA) disclosed the leak to the public on March 16, 2023, 114 days later. At that disclosure Xcel stated that the leak "poses no threat to health and safety."[^5][^6] On December 14, 2023, the MPCA announced a $14,000 penalty against Xcel for operating temporary tritiated-water storage tanks without the required major-facility permit.[^6] On December 30, 2024, the NRC issued the plant a subsequent renewed operating license, which was recorded in the Federal Register on January 3, 2025.[^7][^8] ## Who The plant's Wikipedia entry, which the project grades B, associates the plant with Northern States Power and Xcel Energy.[^3] Two regulators acted on the 2022–2023 release. The NRC licenses the plant, and the MPCA brought the 2023 state enforcement action.[^6][^7] The city is governed by a council made up of the mayor and four councilmembers. The mayor is elected to two-year terms, and councilmembers serve staggered four-year terms. As of the Wikipedia revision retrieved October 27, 2026, the mayor was Lloyd Hilgart, in office since January 2023.[^1] The county takes its name from [[Silas Wright]] (1795–1847). Wright was a U.S. Senator from New York from 1833 to 1844 and Governor of New York from 1844 to 1846.[^9][^10] ## What According to the plant's Wikipedia entry (grade B), the unit is a General Electric BWR-3 uprated from 600 to 671 MWe. Its original license ran to 2010, and a 2006 renewal extended it to September 8, 2030. The subsequent renewal extends operation toward 2050.[^3] The NRC's licensing action is Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-22. It authorizes operation "at reactor core power levels not in excess of 2,004 megawatts thermal."[^7] A CBS News Minnesota timeline, whose link the project grades as dead, reports the following details. The tritium-contaminated water came from a pipe between two buildings. About 25 percent of the tritium had been recovered by the March 16, 2023 disclosure.[^5] The project's at-issue record draws on the same timeline. It records a second leak discovered on March 24, 2023, which came from the temporary repair to the first, and a full shutdown of the plant on March 25.[^5] ## When - **1854–1891.** The town was platted in 1854. A post office has operated there since 1855. Monticello was incorporated in 1856, and the village of Moritzious merged into it in 1891.[^1] - **1855.** Wright County was established; the project's claims matrix dates its organization to February 20, 1855.[^10] - **1859.** The *Wright County Affair* took place (see How much and In the Minnesota record).[^11] The Minnesota Historical Society holds a folder in Governor Sibley's records titled *Letters Received, 1859: Wright County Affair*, box 154.J.14.1B. The folder has been located, but its contents were not retrieved.[^12] The society's [[Wright County District Court]] holdings begin in 1881, and the 1859 case file does not survive.[^13] - **1862 and 1867.** Buffalo made an unsuccessful bid for the county seat in 1862 and succeeded in 1867. A newspaper account reports that Buffalo offered a courthouse rent-free for five years. The project grades that account's link as dead and did not retrieve the vote totals or the authorizing action.[^2] - **1915.** Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge's *History of Wright County, Minnesota* includes a chapter titled *Otsego and Monticello Settled*. Only its front matter and table of contents were retrieved.[^14] - **1971–2006.** The nuclear plant began operating in 1971. The city adopted a comprehensive growth plan in 1996, and a new high school opened in 1999. In 2004 the city made an annexation agreement with Monticello Township. In 2006 a new interchange gave Wright County Road 18 full access to [[Interstate 94]].[^1] - **2022–2023.** - November 22, 2022: the leak was confirmed and reported to state officials and the NRC. - March 16, 2023: public disclosure. - March 17, 2023: an NRC spokesperson defended the delayed notification.[^5] - March 22, 2023: an NRC license-renewal public hearing was held.[^15] - March 24–25, 2023: the second leak was discovered and the plant shut down.[^5] - Early April 2023: Xcel began filling a new tank before obtaining the required permit.[^6] - April 12, 2023: Xcel and state regulators were called before [[Minnesota Senate]] committees.[^16] - December 14, 2023: the MPCA announced its penalty.[^6] - **2024–2025.** The NRC issued license DPR-22 on December 30, 2024. The notice and Record of Decision were published in the Federal Register on January 3, 2025.[^7] Trade coverage of the renewal followed on January 6, 2025.[^8] - **May 2025.** The White House issued four nuclear-policy orders: - *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission*[^17] - *Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base*[^18] - *Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security*[^19] - *Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy*[^20] ## Where The city covers 8.94 square miles (23.15 km²), all of it land. It sits at 45.305° N, 93.793° W, at an elevation of 922 feet, in the Central time zone.[^1] The city owns 28 parks and maintains a network of trails. The largest nearby parks include Lake Maria State Park, Montissippi Regional Park and Harry Larsen Memorial Park. From December to March, up to 2,700 trumpeter swans gather at Swan Park, where warm water discharged by the nuclear plant keeps the river heated.[^1] Together with Wright County, the city acquired the 1,200-acre Bertram Chain of Lakes, which contains four lakes. Of that land, 812 acres are open to the public.[^1] ## How The MPCA's account of its penalty sets out the storage sequence. In March 2023, the agency identified 1 million gallons of temporary tank capacity as the threshold requiring a major-facility permit. In early April 2023, before obtaining that permit, Xcel began filling a new tank with tritiated groundwater. This brought total temporary capacity to roughly 1.4 million gallons. The $14,000 penalty of December 14, 2023, addressed that operation.[^6] The public statements of March 2023 can be set beside these documented outputs: - **Statements.** At the March 16 disclosure, Xcel said the leak "poses no threat to health and safety." The NRC spokesperson's March 17 defense of the delayed notification used the words "was not and is not in danger."[^5] - **Outputs.** - A second leak from the temporary repair was discovered eight days after disclosure, followed by a shutdown the next day.[^5] - Senate committee hearings were held in April.[^16] - The state agency penalty was announced that December.[^6] The record establishes the dates of notification and disclosure. It does not establish the reason for the 114-day interval.[^5] ## How much - The MPCA penalty against Xcel Energy was $14,000, announced December 14, 2023.[^6] - The renewed license caps reactor core power at 2,004 megawatts thermal.[^7] - A compilation of contemporaneous newspaper transcriptions puts the state's expense for the 1859 militia deployment to Monticello at approximately $12,000.[^11] ## How many - **Population.** The city had 14,455 residents in 2020, up from 12,759 in 2010.[^1] - **Households and housing (2020).** The census counted 5,485 households and 5,664 housing units. The median age was 34.7.[^1] - **Plant workforce.** The city gives the plant's workforce as approximately 640, including contractors.[^4] - **The release.** Approximately 400,000 gallons leaked, according to the timeline graded dead by the project.[^5] - **Tank capacity.** Temporary tank capacity reached roughly 1.4 million gallons, against a 1-million-gallon permit threshold.[^6] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record pairs six Monticello items with federal executive instruments. The pack does not show any of these instruments naming Monticello. The pairings are as follows: - **The disclosure interval.** The 114-day interval between notification of regulators and public disclosure is paired with the March 2025 order *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*.[^21][^5] - **The second leak and the license renewal.** Both are paired with *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission* (May 2025).[^17][^7] - **The plant's workforce and tax share.** The approximately 640 jobs and the unpublished tax-base share are paired with the White House fact sheet of August 2026, *Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares a National Emergency to Secure America's Bulk Power System*.[^22][^4] - **The county's founding and seat.** The 1855 organization of Wright County and the 1867 transfer of its seat are paired with the March 2025 order *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse*.[^23][^2] The record also pairs the reported rent-free courthouse offer with [[§124E.22]], Minnesota's charter school lease aid statute. That statute provides aid of up to 90 percent of approved lease cost.[^24][^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Where - **The leak site.** The 2022 leak occurred at a pipe between two buildings on the plant site, according to the timeline graded dead by the project.[^5] - **The 1859 deployment.** A compilation of contemporaneous newspaper transcriptions describes the events of August 1859: - On August 2, about 93 disguised, armed men freed a prisoner from custody. - On August 5, three militia companies, including the Pioneer Guard of St. Paul under Colonel John S. Prince, were dispatched to Monticello. - On August 11, the companies were withdrawn. - The account records eleven arrests.[^11] - **The archival record.** The surviving records of these events sit with the Minnesota Historical Society. The governor's 1859 correspondence folder is located but unread, and the district court's holdings begin in 1881.[^12][^13] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Monticello, Minnesota* (revid 1374759995, retrieved 2026-10-27) — population, geography, parks, history, economy, government and census figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Minnesota [^2]: Annandale Advocate, *It's In Your Court: Recalling the fight for the county seat* (undated) — Monticello as first seat; Buffalo's 1862 bid and 1867 success, reportedly by a rent-free courthouse offer. Link graded D (dead) by the project; vote totals and authorizing action not retrieved. https://www.annandaleadvocate.com/ [^3]: Wikipedia, *Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant* (graded B by the project) — began operating 1971; GE BWR-3; uprated 600 to 671 MWe; 2006 renewal to September 8, 2030; subsequent renewal toward 2050. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello_Nuclear_Generating_Plant [^4]: City of Monticello, *Xcel Energy* (undated) — approximately 640 employees including contractors; plant described as "one of the largest property tax payers." https://www.monticellomn.gov/693/Xcel-Energy [^5]: CBS News Minnesota, *Monticello nuclear plant radioactive leak: A timeline* (undated) — approximately 400,000 gallons; notification November 22, 2022; disclosure March 16, 2023; Xcel and NRC statements; second leak and shutdown. Link graded D (dead) by the project; cited as dead. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/monticello-nuclear-plant-radioactive-leak-a-timeline/ [^6]: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, *Xcel Energy Inc. fined $14,000 related to tritiated water storage at Monticello nuclear facility* (December 14, 2023) — penalty for unpermitted temporary storage tanks; early-April 2023 tank filling; 1.4-million-gallon capacity against a 1-million-gallon threshold. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/news-and-stories [^7]: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, *Record of Decision, subsequent license renewal, Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant Unit 1*, Federal Register (January 3, 2025) — Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-22 issued December 30, 2024; 2,004 MWt limit. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-03/pdf/2024-31579.pdf [^8]: American Nuclear Society, *NRC issues subsequent license renewal to Monticello plant* (January 6, 2025) — contemporaneous trade coverage of the renewal. https://www.ans.org/news/2025-01-06/article-6650/nrc-issues-subsequent-license-renewal-to-monticello-plant [^9]: U.S. House of Representatives, *WRIGHT, Silas, Jr.* biographical record (undated) — Senator from New York 1833–1844; Governor of New York 1844–1846. https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/W/WRIGHT,-Silas,-Jr--(W000770 [^10]: Library of Congress, catalog record 13018764 (undated) — county naming and 1855 establishment, per Upham, *Minnesota Geographic Names* (1920), p. 586. https://www.loc.gov/item/13018764/ [^11]: Genealogy Trails, *Wright County history compilation* (undated; draws on *Minnesota in Three Centuries*, 1908) — August 1859 events; militia dispatch to Monticello; eleven arrests; about $12,000 state expense. https://genealogytrails.com/minn/wright/history_war.html [^12]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Governor Sibley records finding aid* (undated) — folder "Letters Received, 1859: Wright County Affair," box 154.J.14.1B, located; contents not retrieved. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gov015.html [^13]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Wright County District Court records finding aid gr02765* (undated) — earliest holdings begin 1881; the 1859 case file does not survive. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr02765.html [^14]: Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, *History of Wright County, Minnesota*, vol. 1 (1915) — table of contents including the chapter "Otsego and Monticello Settled"; only front matter retrieved. https://archive.org/stream/historyofwrightc01curt/historyofwrightc01curt_djvu.txt [^15]: MPR News, *What we know about the Monticello nuclear plant tritium leak* (March 22, 2023) — the March 22, 2023 NRC license-renewal public hearing. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/03/22/what-we-know-about-the-monticello-nuclear-plant-tritium-leak [^16]: Star Tribune, *Xcel, state regulators called in front of Senate committees over tritium leak* (April 2023) — Minnesota Senate committee hearing, April 12, 2023. https://www.startribune.com/xcel-state-regulators-called-in-front-of-senate-committees-over-tritium-leak/600266575 [^17]: The White House, *Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission* (May 2025) — executive order on the NRC. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ordering-the-reform-of-the-nuclear-regulatory-commission/ [^18]: The White House, *Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base* (May 2025) — executive order. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/reinvigorating-the-nuclear-industrial-base/ [^19]: The White House, *Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security* (May 2025) — executive order. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/deploying-advanced-nuclear-reactor-technologies-for-national-security/ [^20]: The White House, *Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy* (May 2025) — executive order. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/reforming-nuclear-reactor-testing-at-the-department-of-energy/ [^21]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — executive order paired in the at-issue record with the 114-day interval. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^22]: The White House, *Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares a National Emergency to Secure America's Bulk Power System* (August 2026) — national emergency declaration paired with the plant's workforce and tax-base figures. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/08/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-a-national-emergency-to-secure-americas-bulk-power-system/ [^23]: The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (March 2025) — executive order paired with the county-seat transfer. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^24]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. §124E.22* (current) — charter school lease aid of up to 90 percent of approved cost. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E.22