5.4. ERMUSR 02-10-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ittnytifin Position Statement Renewable Energy Standard - Minnesota's municipal utilities have a long history of involvement with renewable energy. In the early part of the 20th Century, communities like �; Redwood Falls, Lanesboro, Thief It `; s. River Falls and Rochester put their local renewable resources '-11 to work toward their citizens' electric service needs. Then in the 1940s and`50s, the federal government established a system « of dams along the Missouri River and its tributaries and created the Preference Power program • that allowed consumer-owned municipal and cooperative • . utilities in western Minnesota to .5 a secure allocations of hydropower from the Western Area Power Administration under long-term You would be hard-pressed to find a Minnesota city with a more diverse power supply contracts.These allocations have mix than Redwood Falls.This mix includes federal hydropower,coal-fired electricity from been renewed over the years, SMMPA and Sherco 3,output from the local hydroelectric plant and these two wind allowing irrigation, electricity turbines,which feed directly into the local distribution system.The utility also has local production, navigation and flood reciprocating engine electric generators,for emergencies. control as well as recreational use of the Missouri to continue— on the timelines in the draft rule, states are expected all funded by Preference Power customers. to have a year or more to develop their plans to comply with the rule. The rule is discussed in more detail Today Minnesota's renewable energy standard, based previously at pages 3-5. in significant part on a proposal developed by MMUA, is adding more renewable energy to our state's power EPA will have to make judgment calls on a huge array supply system every year.We will continue to see of outstanding issues as it develops the final version additional renewable development under the RES of the rule. Some of those decisions will have major through 2025. implications for determining Minnesota's obligations under the plan and how our state will go about meeting Some advocates are calling for an increase in the RES those obligations. Will early adopter states like this year to 40 percent by 2030. We believe, for the Minnesota receive credit for greenhouse gas emission reasons set out below, that increasing the RES at this reductions achieved prior to 2020?Will Minnesota be point in time would be premature. There is no urgency allowed to select a baseline period that reflects typical to act now, and there are good reasons to bide our time annual coal generation for our state?Will renewable until we have the information in hand that will enable energy facilities have to be located within Minnesota in us to make informed and confident decisions regarding order to be included in Minnesota's CPP plan? future renewable development. We will know the answers to these and other important The Clean Power Plan—A Work In Progress questions sometime this summer. Our state will then The federal Environmental Protection Agency issued have at least a year to develop its plan, and renewable its draft Clean Power Plan(CPP)on June 18, 2014. The energy will be one of the four major building blocks agency has received literally millions of comments on of the plan.We will have plenty of time to make any the plan and is expected to issue the final version of the necessary changes to our renewable energy standard CPP in mid-summer 2015. It is likely that the final rule after we know what the renewable energy component will contain significant changes and clarifications. Based of Minnesota's CPP plan looks like.There is no reason 6/2015 State Position Statements