6.1. ERMUSR 05-10-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Vol. 14, No. 9 April 15, 2011 While the budget has been the overriding focus on the Legislature for most of the year, energy bills were also in the spotlight this week. The Minnesota Senate voted Thursday to lift restrictions on new coal-fired power plants. The 42-18 vote would strike a portion of the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 that imposes conditions on new coal plants or on importing electricity from such plants outside the state. Proponents of the bill, SF 86, including chief author Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont), said carbon-dioxide emission limits on coal-fired power plants have become obstacles to economic growth. Whether DFL-Governor Mark Dayton will sign bills approved by the Republican-led Legislature, of course, remains a source of some speculation. They were busy days Tuesday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13 in the House Environment, Eneray and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, as it heard a number ofenergy-related bills, including: HF1193 a bill making changes to the Conservation Improvement Program (CIP). The bill was drafted by the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. MMUA is neutral on the bill, MMUA's Bob Jagusch said in his testimony. MMUA would like to see some changes made in the program, but has been pursuing these changes administratively, through the state Office of Energy Security (OES). MMUA favors discussing changes to the law over the interim, and coming back with a consensus bill next session. One sticking point for MMUA is that the MREA-sponsored bill does not account for energy savings over the lifetime of a measure. That leaves intact the current practice of only counting savings from any particular measure for only one year. Bill Grant, director of the OES, said he was vvillirtg to work with bill drafters to try and make the language acceptable to the administration. He also said more fully accounting for utility-side savings could be handled administratively (a process MMUA has been working on) and his office is coming out with guidance on this issue. Grant said he believed the OES has flexibility to handle some of these issues now. No vote was taken on this bill, or any of the others heard. Instead, the bills are being considered for inclusion into an omnibus energy bill. Other bills heard this week in the Committee included: HF1212 (Anderson) Melrose Public Utilities Commission membership increased from three to five members (this bill was amended to allow up to seven commissioners).