ST. PAUL – A bill that will radically alter the way utilities obtain and deliver energy – which will come at a significant cost to all Minnesotans – was approved on the Minnesota House floor by the Democrat majority recently.
The bill would force electric utilities in the state to generate or acquire 100 percent carbon-free energy by the year 2040 and would eliminate coal and natural gas as products used for Minnesota’s energy needs.
State Representative Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont) said this plan is a big mistake.
“There’s not one person in St. Paul who wants to make our planet worse,” Olson said. “But we have to be realistic. Minnesota can’t get to 100 percent carbon free energy at the drop of a hat using only solar and wind technologies.”
A report from the Center of the American Experiment (CAE) estimates that the Walz/Democrat plan to move to 100 percent carbon free electricity by 2040 will cost $313 billion, or nearly $3,900 per family per year.
The potential gain according to CAE: averting 0.00096 degree Celsius of warming by the year 2100.
Olson said the type of radical policies Minnesota House Democrats are pushing already are causing havoc elsewhere. While everyone has heard about the rolling blackouts in California, Germany is also having major problems as it is rationing electricity as electric vehicles and heat pumps threaten the collapse of local power grids. In fact, Germany has now resurrected its coal-fired power plants to ensure the country has enough energy to get through the winter.
“We need reliable, affordable, and safe energy in our state, and this plan doesn’t meet any of these three priorities,” Olson said. “A better answer would be to develop an all-encompassing program that also includes nuclear, hydroelectric, and carbon capture technologies, not just wind and solar. But the House majority isn’t interested in something like that.”
The bill now heads to the Minnesota Senate for further debate.