Minnesota Power, an ALLETE company, has become a “founding reporter” of The Climate Registry, an organization established to measure and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions consistently, accurately and across borders and industry sectors.

The non-profit Climate Registry founders include 39 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, three Native American tribes, eight Mexican states and the District of Columbia.

“Companies like ours with a duty to provide energy have a responsibility to take action on climate change,” said Don Shippar, ALLETE’s president, chairman and CEO. “Reporting our greenhouse gas emissions through The Climate Registry is another important step in Minnesota Power’s legacy of environmental stewardship.”

In becoming one of the founding reporters of the Registry, Minnesota Power voluntarily commits to measure, independently verify and publicly report its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, using The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol. This method of reporting is based on the internationally recognized GHG measurements standards of the World Resources Institute and World Business Council on Sustainability.

“Minnesota Power has demonstrated exemplary environmental leadership by stepping forward to support The Climate Registry in its preliminary stages,” said Gina McCarthy, chairwoman of the Climate Registry. “We are deeply grateful for their integral support in helping to address the challenge of climate change.”

More than 230 leading corporations, non-profit organizations, cities and counties are currently reporting their GHG emissions to the Climate Registry and are considered environmental leaders for their early voluntary action on climate change. The Registry represents a linking of several state-sponsored GHG emissions reporting efforts. It is anticipated that any mandatory state-level GHG reporting will be linked with the Registry.

Minnesota Power, a division of ALLETE, supplies electric service to 141,000 retail customers, 16 municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the United States.

The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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