BECKER, Minn. (AP) – State officials plan to update the way they include environmental and health effects when they determine the overall cost of energy production.

Becker is home to Xcel Energy’s Sherco Generating Plant, the largest plant in the state in terms of square feet, steam production, power generation and coal consumption. The plant can produce up to 2,400 megawatts of energy from low sulfur coal.

The move could help guide decisions ranging from the fate of aging power plants to cleaner sources of energy. J. Drake Hamilton is a science policy director with the nonprofit Fresh Energy. She says the new system could cause the state to think twice before investing in certain power plants.

The state has been including external costs since 1993, but the values haven’t been updated since 1996.