Engage in the policital prcess and make your voice heard on energy policy. Click on the link above.
Tired of rising electric bills? Take action!
Electric rates are rising – and will continue to rise. What can the average citizen do? One easy step is to visit the Take Action Network website and make your voice heard. Not only is it your right to tell your legislators what you think about proposed legislation, it is also your duty.
Read background information on key issues affecting electric cooperatives, and then take advantage of the Take Action Network’s online form to quickly send an appropriate message via e-mail to your specific Congressmen and Senators in Washington, D.C. and in the Minnesota legislature.
Minnesota legislature to address energy issues
The 2012 Minnesota Legislative session will begin in late January and is expected to be a sprint from start to finish. Since the previous session and government shutdown ended last summer, there has been plenty of news to keep politicos busy. And, with 2012 being an election year in which all legislators are up for re-election (because of redistricting, which is still unsettled), legislators will want to end the session on time to hit the campaign trail.
Great River Energy will represent member cooperatives with two key issues in mind: ensuring new net metering laws do not adversely affect members and ensuring Minnesota utilities retain the first right to build transmission lines in the state.
The Division of Energy Resources plans to propose changes to the current net metering statute. Great River Energy will work with legislators, Gov. Dayton’s staff and regulators to explain why any changes to the law must:
- Be cost-neutral for electric cooperatives
- Clarify the purpose of net metering in statute, which is to off-set individual energy use, not enable individuals to become independent power producers
- Eliminate payments and replace them with roll-over bill credits
- Require customers to pay for services they use
- Institute a system-wide cap to maintain reliability and affordability
Another issue could be the proposal by many utilities in the state to develop a Right of First Refusal in Minnesota to ensure that utilities in the state have the first right to build necessary transmission lines.
A 2011 decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) removed this right, mainly as a response to utilities in the Southeast United States that have not built the necessary transmission. Instituting this statute in Minnesota will ensure that utilities who serve customers in the state can build, own and operate transmission lines that connect into the infrastructure that serves their customers.
EPA stepping on North Dakota’s toes over haze restrictions
The federal government is threatening to takeover North Dakota’s right to manage its own air quality program.
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The Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 has sent a letter to the North Dakota Department of Health saying it intended to replace North Dakota’s state implementation plan (SIP) for regional haze with a federal implementation plan (FIP) – an action that would cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars for no visible benefit.
For MVEC’s wholesale power provider, Basin Electric of Bismarck, N.D., a FIP would directly impact its Leland Olds Station. The state determined a new scrubber, overfire air and other technologies were the best choices for reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions – at a cost of more than $400 million. EPA wants to require that selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology be installed – technology never proven to work on lignite coal at a cost of hundreds of millions more.
“This is the kind of issue that may ultimately end up in front of the United States Supreme Court,” says Lyle Witham, Basin Electric’s manager of environmental services. “Congress gave states and the EPA very different roles in determining what was needed to improve visibility in the nation’s national parks and wilderness areas.” Read more
CAPX2020: A Look Back and Looking Forward
The CAPX2020 transmission projects were proposed more than five years ago in order to increase electric reliability and allow for future growth. Here’s a brief look back and a look at what to expect in the coming years as CAPX lines are built to serve electric consumers’ needs. Read More…
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High Quality Photo
