On Tuesday, the Senate Energy and Utilities committee featured a presentation by the Department of Commerce on Governor Walz’s budget requests for their department. Of interest to the Lignite Energy Council was a request for $1,485,000 by the governor for court-ordered litigation costs, including $1,050,000, which is a result of the lawsuit between North Dakota and Minnesota regarding the Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA) of 2007.
For background of the lawsuit, the NGEA mandated that utilities were required to have at least 25% of their electric generation created from renewable sources by the year 2025. In addition, the statute provided that “no person shall… (2) Import of commit to import from outside the state power from a new large energy facility that would contribute to statewide power sector carbon dioxide emissions or (3) enter into a new long term power purchase agreement that would increase statewide power sector carbon dioxide emissions.”
The State of North Dakota, three non-profit cooperative entities that provide electric power to rural and municipal utilities in Minnesota, and others brought the action against the Commissioners of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The action contended that the prohibitions violated the Commerce Clause, as one state cannot enact policy that would dictate what commerce could occur in another state. After many years of litigation, the provisions were found to be violations of the Commerce Clause by the US District Court for the District of Minnesota and was later upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Appeals Court included in their decision that Minnesota was ordered to pay the legal fees for the plaintiffs and that is why the $1,050,000 is being requested in this legislative session.
On Tuesday evening, the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement heard from Mansco Perry, the Executive Director of the State Board of Investment (SBI) on the state’s portfolio as it pertains to climate change and fossil fuels. Rep. Long (DFL-Minneapolis) and Sen. Pappas (DFL-St. Paul) presented HF2329/SF2276, which requires a report on the risks posed by fossil fuels investments and HF2294/SF2277, which requires that the State Board of Investment to divest from fossil fuels. Mr. Perry noted that while the SBI is supportive of environmental stewardship, they prefer engagement rather than divestment. Currently, the SBI oversees a $68 billion portfolio of investments.
On Thursday, the House Energy and Climate committee heard a number of bills, including one that would create a “green bank” to fund and broker clean energy projects, one that would provide funding for additional climate change studies at the University of Minnesota. The other bills made investments in electric buses and also to extend and expand the community solar garden program