6.1.a. ERMUSR 05-12-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Government Relations MMUA Government Rela- tions staff represents the interests of municipal utili ties before state and federal government entities. Our government relations staff includes Government Rela- tions Director Bill Black and • _ t f ., � „ it 1 Government Relations Rep- resentative . ": a-, Amanda Duerr. _ 4 We have two excellent out ► `� side consultants who assist 4 us in this work—Doug » �..��– �� Car- nival of the McGrann Shea t► Carnival Straughn & Lamb law firm on the state level and Michael Nolan, MJN Marshall Municipal Utilities General Manager Brad Roos served as a spokes- Consulting, on the federal person for MMUA at the 2015 Legislative Conference. MMUA could not suc- level. Here, we divide our ceed in its work without the support and involvement of its members. efforts into state and federal reports. During the year, MMUA: State Government Relations • Worked cooperatively both individually and in coordination with other utility lobbyists to recom- In 2014, the Minnesota Legislature convened for its mend changes to legislation regarding sustainable bonding-year session on February 25 and adjourned buildings, on-bill repayment programs, Integrated on schedule on May 17. The session was the last Resource Plans and Combined Heat and Power pro- in the long and illustrious career of MMUA Senior posed by the Center for Energy and the Environ- Government Relations Representative Greg Oxley. ment before and during the legislative session. It also marked the passing of the reins of MMUA's government relations program to Bill Black, who • Worked cooperatively both individually and in had previously assumed the title of Government coordination with other utility lobbyists to recom- Relations Director from Oxley. mend changes to legislation regarding electric ser- vice to homes with medically necessary equipment The MMUA lobbyists had periods of intense activ- proposed by Legal Services Advocacy Project. ity in what turned out to be an uneventful session. House and Senate DFL party leaders, with hopes of • Opposed legislation that would allow state agen- coming out of November elections with their major- cies to skip public involvement steps when imple- ities intact, followed DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's ad- menting new regulations. vice and pursued a modest legislative agenda. The session was dubbed the `unsession,'for its emphasis • Testified against legislation that could divide on repealing outdated laws. public power communities by recommending"com- munity energy choice aggregation programs" within Repeal of unpopular tax reforms of previous years them. and a substantial bonding bill were highlights of the session. Not surprisingly, substantial effort was • Provided research results to the Legislative En- needed to convince committee chairs that several ergy Commission explaining which Minnesota cit- supposedly innocuous bills would, in fact, virtually ies receive natural gas service and from whom and uproot Minnesota's regulatory framework. Those which cities do not receive gas service. The LEC misguided initiatives were turned back after con- was exploring ways to avoid future propane short- siderable lobbying by MMUA and others. ages like the one in winter 2013-14. 2014 Year in Review-5 86