By Rep. Paul Anderson
The home stretch is upon the Minnesota Legislature. By the time you read this, less than three weeks will remain in the session.
Long floor sessions – up to 14 hours – marked last week’s schedule as we came back from the Easter break and got right into debating the major spending bills that will fund state government for the next two years, beginning on July 1.
First up was the K-12 education bill that spends nearly $20 billion, followed by the jobs and energy bill. The massive Health and Human Services bill, both literally and financially, was next up. That bill has the distinction of being the largest bill, in terms of length, to ever be debated and passed on the House floor. It was nearly 1,200 pages, and someone looking for something to do actually weighed the bill and it tipped the scale at 12 pounds!
The House tax bill was also worked on and passed last week. It contains some good provisions, but also some massive tax increases. The agriculture bill, along with provisions pertaining to housing, was taken up next. And we finished the week by starting on the transportation bill and having it “laid over” until this week, when the remaining amendments will be heard.
The rest of the spending bills will also be heard, with a goal of finishing them all by Wednesday morning. That may mean a couple of late night sessions, in order to stay on schedule.
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One provision of the energy bill caused a great deal of discussion and several amendments. It pertains to what are called “Community Solar Gardens,” which are smaller solar installations in Xcel Energy territory whose power production the utility is required by law to purchase. There is currently no limit on the number of these arrays that Xcel must purchase power from, and the cost of the electricity generated by them is much higher than other methods. The state has determined the value of solar power produced by these gardens at around 12 cents per kilowatt hour, and that’s what the power company pays for this power.
This, despite the fact that large-scale solar and wind power can be produced for much less: in that four cent range. As a result, the added cost of purchasing all this community solar power is added to the monthly bills of Xcel customers. The legislation that was passed last week encourages even more of these gardens in Greater Minnesota, by taking away the requirement that those who sign up for these installations need to be residents of the county where they are located or in a contiguous county.
These solar gardens seem to be popping up all over the area. If this legislation becomes law, look for even more of them, with subscribers from all over the state.
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