Rushed energy mandate would endanger fragile electric grid

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A recent Star Tribune article calls attention to an energy bill being rushed through the Legislature. The legislation threatens our ability to keep the lights on and risks making electricity unaffordable — even while the transformation it seeks is already underway.

The Legislature is fast-tracking a bill requiring that 100% of the state's energy come from clean energy sources by 2040.

Let's make sure we take the time to craft a balanced plan for a carbon free future with reliable and affordable electricity.

Minnesotans should be proud of the achievements underway in the clean energy transition. Coal generation is decreasing from 65% to 5% by 2035, and generation from wind and solar is increasing from 5% in 2005 to 50% by 2035. Minnesota's electric utilities have filed plans with the state's regulators committing to being over 70% carbon free by 2034. Minnesota's success at reducing our carbon emissions from the electricity sector is unparalleled.

These rapid changes are creating challenges for keeping the lights on and heat available all the time. The electricity grid is becoming brittle. The independent entities responsible for setting the standards to keep the system reliable and operate the electric grid are escalating their warnings. Top officials now warn we must manage the pace of generation retirements as an "absolute necessity" as we make additional investments in renewables.

Yet this mandate bill, establishing new requirements to be met as early as 2030, pushes utilities to retire existing plants faster still. The industry is already retiring fossil fuel plants faster than reliable levels of renewable generation can be built. Policies that would help ensure retirements don't happen too fast don't exist.

Warning bells are sounding that these resources are needed to ensure the heat and lights are on during the coldest nights when the wind isn't blowing. We should be easing the path to electrification of the economy by enhancing reliability, not undermining it.

As somebody working in the industry for over 30 years, I am amazed and disturbed that a policy further eroding reliability is being rushed through.

Rural electric cooperatives also worry about impacts on cost. We provide electricity to a third of Minnesotans across about 85% of the state's land mass. We are in rural areas, with a higher energy cost burden than urban areas. It's expensive to build infrastructure serving sparsely populated areas. Governed by locally elected boards of people purchasing electricity from the cooperative, co-ops are highly motivated to keep costs in check. New energy generation should be built only when it's needed; not to satisfy policy mandates.

Legislators advocating for the bill maintain these reliability and cost concerns are addressed; they say state regulators will be able to adjust the targets if reliability and cost impacts are too high. Unfortunately, this is not the venue for addressing these trade-offs for rural electric cooperatives. It promises to be a costly and time-consuming process and would undermine the ability of locally elected co-op boards to make these critically important decisions for their member-consumers.

Rural electric cooperatives are leaders in the state's ongoing energy transition. We are rapidly shifting our generation mix, retiring coal plants, and building wind and solar facilities. We share the goal of continuing this transition to clean energy and would welcome the opportunity to help shape this bill to keep reliability and affordability in balance as these changes continue.