House Energy
On Tuesday, the House Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee heard three bills that were laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus bill.
HF2200 (Vang, DFL-Brooklyn Center) establishes a program to award grants to cities, non-profit organizations, or educational institutions to assist cities to reduce their contributions to climate change and to mitigate the impacts. The bill appropriates $5 million from the General Fund. The maximum grant amount is $50,000.
HF4180 (Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids) appropriates $4.2 million from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Account (RDA) to the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission to install solar arrays at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn.
HF3921 (Swedzinski, R-Ghent) appropriates $2,290,000 from the RDA to the city of Granite Falls to repair their hydroelectric facility. Previously, money was appropriated from the RDA for the same purpose. However, initial construction work revealed damage to the facility was far greater than originally thought. Additionally, COVID-19 and supply chain issues raised the cost of the project.
On Thursday, the committee heard updates about the solar on schools program that was passed into law last session. Xcel Energy provided an update on their specific program. The Department of Commerce provided information on the solar on schools program that is for those not in the Xcel Energy service territory. For those school districts, Commerce indicated 122 applications covering 45 school districts were received. The average grant request was for $96,836. Commerce has approved 80 schools to submit a final application with decisions to come later this year.
The committee heard HF3905 (Bierman, DFL-Apple Valley). HF3905 provides additional funding to supplement the federal weatherization program funds. The bill also expands the purposes for which weatherization dollars can be used. Finally, the bill creates a grant program in the Department of Commerce to train workers to install weatherization measures. HF3905 was laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus bill.
HF2624 (Lippert, DFL-Northfield) modifies the commercial property assessed clean energy (PACE) program to include farmland improvements as eligible property. Examples of eligible improvements include water conservation measures or drainage and irrigation system improvements. HF2624 passed on a vote of 11-5, with Republican Rep. Greg Boe (R-Chanhassen) voting with the DFL majority. The bill was sent to the Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
HF1289 (Hollins, DFL-St. Paul) amends the intervenor compensation statute. HF1289 was first heard in the committee last year. There were concerns about the scope of the bill: no caps on the amount of compensation an intervenor could receive, no limitations as to who could be considered an intervenor and no qualifications as to when compensation could be awarded. The Citizens Utility Board and the EnergyCents Coalition worked with stakeholders to refine the bill over the interim.
In committee, a delete-all amendment was adopted to reflect the work over the interim. Under the delete-all amendment, only investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are subject to the new intervenor compensation procedure. Caps are set on the amount of compensation. Additionally, caps are also placed differentiating IOUs (with Xcel Energy being subject to the highest aggregate amount). Further, the bill now limits who would be eligible for the new compensation procedure. Larger nonprofit organizations, like Fresh Energy or the Sierra Club, would not qualify for intervenor compensation under the bill. Finally, in order for a participant to receive compensation, the participant’s argument must not only be a unique perspective, but must also materially assist in the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) decision-making. HF1289 was laid over for possible inclusion in an Omnibus bill.
Senate Energy
The Senate Energy and Utilities Committee heard SF2185 (Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake) on Tuesday. This bill prohibits a municipality from adopting an ordinance, code, policy or permit requirement that prohibits the use of natural gas or propane in any building or any utility customer. The bill was passed and sent to State Government Finance.
SF2416 (Housley, R-Stillwater) appropriates $4.1 million from the RDA for the development of a network of electric vehicle charging stations at county government centers. SF2416 was laid over for possible inclusion in the Omnibus bill.
HF2698 (Housley, R-Stillwater) requires Xcel Energy to file a decommission plan for the Allen S. King power plant by Dec. 31, 2025.
The committee heard SF3051 (Rarick, R-Pine City) on Thursday. This is the Clean Grid Alliance bill and it makes a number of changes. First, the bill requires the PUC to take all reasonable actions to ensure that the renewable energy standard is implemented to maximize use of local workers. SF3051 requires utilities, in their integrated resource plans (IRP), to report on local job impacts and efforts to maximize construction employment opportunities for local workers. SF3051 requires each utility’s IRP to identify each nonrenewable resource facility whose depreciation term, service life or operating license will end within 15 years and its plan to replace the resource and upgrade the transmission resources needed. SF3051 exempts certain wind and solar projects from the Certificate of Need (CON) statute. SF3051 amends the definition of a solar generation resource to also include the associated transmission lines of 100 kilovolts or less. Finally, the bill allows longer transmission lines (from 5 miles to 30 miles) to use the alternative review process.
Both Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) and Xcel Energy raised concerns on SF3051. MRES raised a concern on requiring the utility to identify its nonrenewable resource that it plans to retire, and the needed transmission, in its IRP. MRES argued that the IRP is not the place for that analysis. MRES argued that 15 years is too far on the horizon for specific resources, and new technologies may impact that analysis, rendering the analysis for transmission useless. Xcel Energy argued that SF3051 is piecemeal deregulation. Allowing independent power producers’ wind and solar projects to skip the CON, while utilities proposing similar projects would still be required to go through the CON, creates an unfair advantage. Great River Energy does not oppose SF3051. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in an Omnibus bill.