Minnesota’s Governor Walz recently signed into law a new climate bill that aims for 100% clean energy by 2040. The state enacted its first net metering law in 1983. In 2013 it became the first state to establish a community solar law. In 2007 it set its renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
While the Governor has been working to advance clean energy in the state, Xcel Energy, a utility that’s headquartered in Minneapolis and provides energy to millions of residents in eight Western and Midwestern states, filed a rate increase proposal in October 2021 that was criticized by clean energy, environmental and social justice advocates. They noted that it comes at a time when Minnesotans are feeling the strain of inflation and the rising cost of living. Over 500 concerned ratepayers pushed back against the proposed rate hike by attending public hearings and submitting written comments.
The new Minnesota climate bill encourages utilities to take energy justice into account, and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) found that energy justice is relevant to Xcel’s ratemaking process and the PUC just released a decision in Xcel Energy’s electric rate proposal that has energy justice provisions.
Some of the provisions include lowering Xcel’s proposed return on equity from the company’s requested 10.2% to 9.25%, a rejection of proposed investments that would have stalled local clean energy growth. The proposal also rejects Xcel’s request that ratepayers foot the bill for excessive executive compensation.
The Just Solar Coalition, which includes Community Power, Cooperative Energy Futures, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, and Vote Solar–represented by the Environmental Law and Policy Center–urged the PUC to address racial and wealth disparities in bill affordability. One impetus behind this work is the so-called “Minnesota Paradox,” a term coined by University of Minnesota Professor Samuel L. Myers. He noted that “African Americans are worse off in Minnesota than they are in virtually every other state in the nation,” and explained that while Minnesota may be the best state to live in, it is the worst state for people of color, hence the paradox. Read full story here