After more than a two hour debate
on the House floor this past Monday, February 19, the Minnesota
House of Representatives passed what is the most rigorous attempt
to increase the statewide use of renewable energy in the nation,
which Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed into law Thursday, February 22. The
new law calls for a gradual increase in the percentage of the
state’s electricity that comes from wind, solar, hydroelectric and
other renewable sources to 25 percent by 2025. Xcel Energy, the
state’s biggest power company, faces a tougher requirement of 30
percent by 2020.
Although I voted with the overwhelming majority in favor of the
bill in the end, there were a number of amendments offered by
fellow House members and myself that would have made this well
intentioned bill, better. Unfortunately, all amendments failed on
basic party-line votes, with the DFL rejecting every one of them,
leaving some big holes in the new law.
The first amendment offered called for increased ratepayer
protection. The new renewable energy standards regulations do not
clearly outline what “significant rate impact” would be for
ratepayers. The amendment authored by Rep. Paul Kohls (R-Victoria)
clearly defined and limited the amount of impact the new standards
could have on costs to ratepayers, attempting to provide a limit
on the potential cost increase to consumers resulting from the new
mandates.
Biodiesel and wind energies have been predominately rural
industries. I offered a number of amendments that would require 25
to 50 percent of the electricity generated to satisfy a utilities
standard obligation be generated in Minnesota, or at least owned
in part by Minnesotans. These proposals attempted to ensure that
the bill does what it is meant to do and make certain that the
money made in the production stays in Minnesota and results in
rural economic development, but they too failed.
Although the bill was passed out of the House and Senate with
some holes, the overall goal of the new regulations is positive.
The legislation firmly establishes Minnesota as a national leader
in renewable energy utilization and as long as Legislators
continue to monitor the economic impact of these mandates on both
the ratepayer and the utility, the outcome should be positive as
well.
The Governor signed this bill into law already, last Thursday,
February 22. According to the debate last Monday night on the
bill, both democrats and republicans are going to work on another
energy bill that addresses more use of bio-fuels as well as more
local ownership opportunities for the new renewable energy
standard by Minnesota Residents. Hopefully we can come to a
workable agreement to pass another energy bill later this session.
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Rep. Westrom is serving his sixth term in the Minnesota House.
He can be reached at the Capitol by calling 651-296-4929, or by
email at rep.torrey.westrom@house.mn. His office is located at 273
State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.,
St. Paul, MN 55155.
To sign up for Rep. Westrom’s weekly email update, visit:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/join.asp?district=11A.
