On Tuesday, February 7, Governor Tim Walz signed the 100 percent Clean Energy Bill into law, requiring all Minnesota utilities to achieve carbon free energy by 2040. The bill is one of the strongest clean energy standards passed in the United States, and the culmination of a four year campaign that included a broad coalition of climate groups, environmental justice advocates, youth activists, faith-based organizations, and labor unions. Volunteers and staff with the Sierra Club North Star Chapter played a key role in claiming this historic victory.
100% House Floor Vote, Photo by Representative Jamie Long
What’s in the bill?
Utilities must reach 100 percent carbon free energy by 2040 and report their progress.
Under the new law, utilities will need to reach 80 percent carbon free by 2030 and 90 percent by 2035, with the exception of rural electric co-ops, which must only reach 60 percent by 2030. But all utilities, co-ops included, must hit the 100 percent mark by 2040. Utilities can meet the standard by shifting all their generation to carbon free, or by purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset any climate pollution they continue to emit. The prospect of paying for RECs will incentivise many utilities to transition faster.
The Public Utilities Commission must maximize the following workforce and equity benefits:
- The creation of high quality jobs, recognition of the rights of workers to organize, and ensuring workers have what they need during the transition to carbon-free energy, especially in environmental justice areas
- Ensuring that all Minnesotans share the benefits of clean and renewable energy
- Ensuring that statewide air emissions are reduced, especially in environmental justice areas
- Ensuring the provision of affordable electric service, particularly to low-income customers
Garbage burners in population-dense areas will not be counted as renewable.
Any garbage burning facility in a community with a population density between 1,500 and 2,500 per square mile will not be counted as renewable energy. This includes the HERC (Hennepin County Energy Recovery Center), which has been polluting low income and BIPOC neighborhoods in North Minneapolis for decades. While we don’t think any garbage burner should be considered clean, regardless of population, this is a step in the right direction and an environmental justice win for impacted communities.
Clean energy will be easier to site and build out.
Some large scale wind projects will no longer need to go through a regulatory step at the PUC, called the Certificate of Need process, which decides whether a project is needed. This will fast track approvals of clean energy projects between now and 2040. And measures have been put in place to streamline permitting processes for solar and transmission lines that will further clean energy.
Utilities are encouraged to build out clean energy where fossil fuel power plants are closing. This will go a long way towards supporting coal and gas plant communities and workers through the transition to renewables.
Includes an “off-ramp” for utilities that cannot meet the goal, but climate and environmental justice are now considered.
It’s an existing law that utilities can ask the PUC to delay or modify their progress toward their decarbonization goals if meeting the standard would cause large cost increases or significant reliability issues. This off-ramp was kept in the bill, but the PUC also now must consider impacts of greenhouse gasses on Minnesotans, impacts to environmental justice communities, and whether the utility is acting in good faith, when deciding whether to make an exception.
While the bill is a huge step in the right direction, it is not perfect.
The standard will not be applied to the Affiliated Interest Agreement proceeding at the PUC, which is a necessary step for Minnesota Power in the approval of the Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC), a proposed gas plant in Superior, Wisconsin. Sierra Club has a long history of opposing the approval of NTEC in Minnesota and Wisconsin. While this is disappointing, it is just one step in the regulatory process and Sierra Club will continue to organize and advocate at the state and local levels to stop this unnecessary and risky gas plant from being built.
The law counts large-scale hydroelectric power as clean energy.
Existing state statute counts any hydroelectric power under 100 megawatts to be clean energy. The 100 percent bill allowed for existing hydroelectric larger than 100 percent megawatts to be counted as well. The state’s largest hydroelectric power source comes from Manitoba Hydro, a Canadian company, whose facilities have faced pushback from Indigenous communities in Canada because of the negative impacts on native ecosystems. While it’s important to note that newly constructed, large-scale hydroelectric will not be counted as clean energy, the environmental justice concerns from Indigenous communities should not be ignored.
How we won: We organized!
Sierra Club supporters at the 100% lobby day, Photo by Mary Blitzer
Sierra Club was at the forefront of the campaign to pass 100 percent clean energy, along with many incredible clean energy, labor, and climate justice partners. Over the four year campaign, we mobilized thousands of Sierra Club supporters to contact their representatives, attend lobby days at the Capitol, come to in-district meetings, testify at legislative hearings, and show up for rallies. The Metro and Duluth Clean Energy volunteer teams lead on much of this work, with support from leaders across the Chapter including the Sierra Action team. Our organizing might was complimented by our lobbying efforts at the capitol, where our legislative staff helped to solidify bill champions and engaged on strategy.
Where we go from here
While the 100 percent clean energy law is a huge success for Minnesota, there’s still more work to do to combat the climate crisis and protect our environment. It was essential to pass 100 percent clean energy as soon as possible because, as Sierra Club - Minnesota State Director Margaret Levin put it, “Clean energy is the linchpin for further climate action.”
During this legislation session, Sierra Club will continue to advocate for clean energy and climate justice legislation, including expanding community access to solar, solar on schools, a frontline communities protection bill, and ensuring a maximized climate budget through state surplus and federal Inflation Reduction Act funds.
Let’s celebrate this big win for Minnesota, and keep building on our hard work.