ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has told Xcel Energy to study retiring the two oldest units at its the nearby Becker Sherco power plant.

The PUC decided Thursday that Xcel should consider various retirement scenarios as part of a long-range plan that’s due in July.

Sherco is Minnesota’s largest coal-fired power plant. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups want to see Sherco’s 1 and 2 units retired by 2020 because of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Several people testified Thursday that closing the plant near central Minnesota could cost jobs.