This week the House Omnibus Energy Bill was taken up in the Ways and Means Committee. There were two energy omnibus bills, HF1986 which contained general fund spending and HF1833 that included renewable development fund spending, that were amended into HF2208, which is now the omnibus jobs and economic development finance bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Mahoney (DFL-St. Paul). By incorporating the two energy bills into HF2208, the House Ways and Means Committee Chair said it now aligns better with the committee structure in the Senate. Overall, the bill is now 332 pages long and contains the creation of a new paid family leave program. That program would include over 400 new full time equivalent employees and would cost Minnesota employers and employees over a billion dollars in the form of increased taxes to operate and pay for the benefits. The omnibus bill was placed on the House Calendar for a vote on Tuesday, April 23.
The energy provisions in the House have not changed much since it passed out of the Energy and Climate Committee. The most notable provisions include a 100% carbon-free energy mandate by 2050, the requirement of clean energy first preferences in the Public Utilities Commission resource planning approval process and additional provisions on solar gardens, solar on schools, energy storage systems and electric vehicles.
The Senate energy omnibus finance and policy bill, SF2067 authored by Senator David Osmek (R- Mound) was laid over in the Senate Finance Committee for future inclusion in the jobs and economic development omnibus bill. The Senate version contains provisions permitting energy storage system pilot projects, funding grants for solar on schools, revolving loan program for electric vehicle charging station, the Prairie Island Net Zero Project and compensation for Benson biomass related businesses. It does not contain many of the House energy finance and policy provisions including the 100% carbon free by 2050 mandate.