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Government Relations MMUA Government Relations staff represents the r interests of municipal utilities before state and fed- —11 eral government entities. Our government relations staff includes Government Relations Director Bill Black and Government Relations Representative . 7. Amanda Duerr. We have two excellent outside con- ,* sultants who assist us in this work—Doug Carnival Z ,'' of the McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb X i` law firm on the state level and Michael Nolan, MJN "';', Consulting, on the federal level. Here, we divide ' ' - ' our efforts into state and federal reports. ~"` < For MMUA,government relations takes many different State Government Relations forms. In this picture from the Annual Conference, Dar- ryl Tveitbakk, Rep. Deb Kiel, Dalene Monsebroten and Legislative Activities Dan Boyce (from left to right), visit following the awards The 2016 Legislative Session convened on a his- banquet. Kiel, a representative from Minnesota District torically-late March 8 and adjourned on May 23. 1B, received a Public Service Award. Tveitbakk and The State Capitol was closed to the public; the only Monsebroten are with the Northern Municipal Power business taking place inside were floor sessions of Agency and Boyce with East Grand Forks Water&Light. the House of Representatives. The Minnesota Sen- ate held its floor sessions in the newly-constructed Minnesota Senate Building, where DFL Senators So, in what was largely a do-nothing Legislative also moved their offices. Session, MMUA achieved several successes. Work- ing with cooperative and telecom stakeholders, Going into the Session, there appeared to be con- MMUA helped pass a new law governing railroad sensus that transportation, bonding, and taxes crossing fees. In establishing a one-time crossing were the top priorities. However, none of these bills fee and project approval timeline, utilities will now ultimately became law. Serious transportation ne- have more certainty when their facilities cross rail- gotiations never materialized.A last-minute bond- road right-of-way. ing bill failed to pass both legislative bodies on the final night.A drafting error in the tax bill caused MMUA also collaborated with the LMC and MPCA it to be vetoed. Though legislative leaders and the to pass"regulatory certainty" legislation. If a Governor discussed for months the possibility of wastewater facility voluntarily treated for nitrogen a special session for a tax and bonding bill, these while removing phosphorus using biologic nutri- negotiations ended in stalemate. ent technology, MPCA would not raise their permit limits during the useful life of the equipment (up to 20 years). ' T '= MMUA's government p relations effort relies Regulatory Activities � ¢' on the involvement of In 2016, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission )* staff, contract lob- 44 ob opened proceedings on two regulatory issues af- byists, and most all, fecting municipal utilities, albeit somewhat indi- , the members of the ', 0 `4). association. Here, rectly. One involves potential changes to the state's FY 1 Doug Carnival of theOr 1' 1 model interconnection standards for distributed McGrann Shea law generation. The other is based on objections to fees firm pauses outside charged to power generating customers of several the House office build- electric cooperatives. The commission has under- ' 044L ing with Buffalo's Joe taken detailed interpretation of the legal basis for ` Steffel. The Capitol, those fees which also provides authority for munici- pal construction, pal utilities to recover revenues to pay for infra- is visible in the back- structure that generating customers avoid paying ''! ground. under the state's net metering laws. Government 6-2016 Year in Review 145