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ELK RIVER MUNICIPAL UTILITIES <br />RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF BALANCED <br />CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION <br />WHEREAS the Minnesota State Legislature recently passed Renewable Energy Standard (RES) <br />legislation requiring 25% of utility companies generation portfolio to be produced by renewable <br />generation by the year 2025, and <br />WHEREAS the RES legislation would reduce the amount of additional COz being emitted into <br />the environment by Minnesota utilities, and <br />WHEREAS the legislature is now considering major climate change legislation that could have <br />significant impacts on achieving the recently adopted RES as well as on the ability of Minnesota <br />utilities to meet the growing needs of the citizens of the State of Minnesota as well as <br />neighboring states, and <br />WHEREAS legislators are urged to consider the result of significantly more expensive power <br />due to climate change legislation and the impact that would have on economic development <br />throughout rural Minnesota, and <br />WHEREAS any climate change legislation adopted by the State of Minnesota needs to consider <br />the proper balance between reducing COZ emissions and meeting the growing energy needs of <br />the citizens of the State of Minnesota to ensure the continued health and vitality of the Minnesota <br />economy, and <br />WHEREAS the currently proposed legislation only targets the utility sector and ignores the more <br />significant COZ emissions from other sectors of the economy, <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Elk River Municipal Utilities urges the <br />Minnesota Legislature to develop climate change legislation that will broadly consider the COZ <br />emissions of all segments of the economy rather than only select segments of the economy, and <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature is urged to consider the technological <br />feasibility of legislation being considered as well as the ability to meet the growing energy needs <br />of the citizens of Minnesota under any climate change legislation being considered, and <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Elk River Municipal Utilities supports a deliberative <br />approach to the passage of climate change legislation by the State of Minnesota involving an in <br />depth study of the economic, technological and environmental elements to be considered in any <br />such legislation, and <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such a study be carried out in an environment that <br />recognized the adopted goals of the Minnesota RES but does not prohibit the electric utility <br />segment from meeting the needs of the growing Minnesota economy. <br />Passed by the Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission by a unanimous vote on April 10, <br />2007. <br />Bryan Adams, P.E. <br />General Manager <br />Elk River Municipal Utilities <br />