6.1a ERMUSR 03-14-2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

2023 State Legislative Priorities The Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) Board of Directors, representing the interests of all it members, has identified a list of priorities for the 2023 Minnesota Legislative Session. Following is a summary of those priorities. Issue Summary Nuclear moratorium MMUA supports exploring all sources for producing clean and renewable energy. In order to allow for meaningful dialogue on expanding carbon- free resources, MMUA believes that the 1994 legislative moratorium on the siting of new nuclear reactors should be repealed. Electric vehicle (EV) charging A popular means of providing EV charging stations is for a third party to contract with a commercial entity to offer customers a place to charge their EV while doing business. MMUA supports legislation clarifying that power supplied to such stations must come from the permitted utility and not through a third party. Pay equity exemptions Minnesota’s pay equity law has made it difficult for some utilities to recruit and retain line workers, and it has suppressed salaries in some communities. MMUA supports exempting certain positions, such as line workers, from the pay equity review process or reviewing unique requirements of such positions and increasing the point value accordingly. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) rules for data centers Several municipal utilities in Minnesota are home to large data centers featuring computers and cooling systems that need to run constantly, which dramatically increasing the utility’s electrical load. These centers are usually designed to be highly as efficient as possible, making it difficult to find the increased savings offset required by current CIP standards. MMUA supports exempting these uses from CIP requirements by modifying Minnesota Statutes Section 216B.2403. Repeal local government salary cap Minnesota caps the total compensation of local government employees. This cap has made it difficult for some utilities to retain experienced employees, who often leave for more lucrative posts in the private sector. MMUA supports repealing the local government salary cap. Excess generation compensation An increasing number of Minnesotans are using distributed energy resources (DER) like rooftop solar panels to generate a portion of their electrical load. Current law gives customers the right to request payment for excess generation by check, which can be very costly to the utility. MMUA supports allowing utilities to grant DER customers excess generation refunds using the most cost-effective means available including bill credits and vouchers. CIP rules for gas utilities An oversight in drafting the Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act of 2021 resulted in municipal gas utilities having a higher CIP goal (1.5 percent) than investor-owned utilities (1.0 percent). MMUA supports lowering the CIP goal for municipal gas utilities to 1.0 percent. 231