Defending the carbon-free standard at the Public Utilities Commission and in the Legislature
For the second year in a row, CURE has worked in coalition with environmental justice, environmental advocacy, climate activist, health professional, faith based, and zero waste organizations to defend Minnesota’s 100% Carbon Free Energy Law passed in law in 2023. We’ve created a counterforce to polluting industries at the Public Utilities Commission, where these industries are advocating to create loopholes in the 100% Carbon Free Energy Law for burning trash and woody biomass—both of which emit more carbon and other air pollutants than burning coal. The Commission will likely decide in December of 2025 whether to abide by the plain language of the law, and if the Commission weakens the standards we fought so hard to get passed in the legislature, CURE and our partners will be there to respond.
People over Power: CURE’s fight against the sale of Minnesota Power to BlackRock
For the past year CURE has worked in coalition with the Attorney General, consumer advocates, environmental partners, and large energy customers to shine a light on the huge risks posed by the sale of Minnesota Power. The company’s suitors, Global Infrastructure Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, are private equity companies who specialize in taking over companies and earning above-market profits from them. Northern Minnesota ratepayers big and small were understandably concerned that they would be left with an unfair cost to pay if these companies took over the utility that they depend upon for energy, heat, jobs, and regional economic activity.
Over the course of a lengthy evidentiary process, CURE and our experts worked with our allies to demonstrate to an Administrative Law Judge that these companies had plans to extract Minnesotans’ wealth using the utility’s exclusive right to serve them with necessary electric service. We also showed that the price paid was far too high, meaning that the new owners would have no choice but to earn the cost of the deal back from ratepayers in the form of either higher rates or worse service. CURE opposed the deal even when the Minnesota Department of Commerce proposed to settle with the companies because the small concessions would do little to cure the original harm posed by the sale.
The Administrative Law Judge agreed with CURE and our allies and suggested the deal be rejected because it will affirmatively harm Minnesotans. So did hundreds of Minnesotans who signed comments, joined letters, provided testimony at public hearings, and attended our rally in Duluth. Over all these objections and their own staff analysis that described private equity ownership as a “lose-lose” for ratepayers, the Public Utilities Commission approved the acquisition with a few additional conditions and the intent to fully regulate the new owners according to Minnesota law.
In light of the Commission’s decision, CURE will continue to work with rural folks to promote energy democracy and safeguard our lives and livelihoods against profiteers who merely view Minnesota as a source of wealth to be taken. Rural folks will need to seek solutions like rooftop solar and energy efficiency to keep their bills reasonable. When the new owners seek to sell Minnesota Power, CURE hopes that the Commission will have new perspective on private equity ownership and will help push this and other utilities towards transparency and public service, rather than merely serving electricity to reap excessive profit for wealthy investors. People in the Northland know that they want public utilities that work for them, and together we can continue to advocate for public power and clean energy democracy.
Addressing Data Centers
Data Centers were and continue to be a hot topic across the state and at all levels of government. Whether you’re concerned about land use, water quality and quantity, environmental review, transparency, or energy affordability, the development of data centers is poised to impact our lives.
In 2025, CURE advocated for the introduction of strong environmental and community protections at the state legislature and made multiple Data Practices Act requests to obtain information about how data center lobbyists are speaking to local governments and state agencies about development. We also successfully argued that Amazon Web Service’s proposed 600-megawatt, diesel-powered backup generation should not be exempt from a Certificate of Need analysis to determine whether a different kind of energy generation—something like solar and wind plus storage—could be used instead. CURE will continue to push for careful analysis of whether hyperscale data centers should be part of Minnesota’s future and what protections and benefits we want for our environment and communities if they are located here.
Defending Water & Land
Ag Drainage Petition
CURE was part of a coalition of nine Minnesota groups that asked the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to regulate ag drainage. Over 400 Minnesotans signed coalition petitions calling for action to protect our state’s water. However, the MPCA decided not to grant the petition for rulemaking. Read more here.
Boswell Water Letter
In the summer of 2024, Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center had a massive coal ash spill that put over 5 million gallons of polluted water into the Mississippi River. One year later, in July 2025, CURE joined with the Sierra Club and MCEA in calling Minnesota Power out for not complying with federal coal ash rules regarding that spill or regarding closure of the coal ash pond where the toxic water that spilled had been stored. To this day Minnesota Power has not complied with federal rules regarding coal ash storage and cleanup, and in sending this letter our environmental organizations have expressed our intent to sue the company for these violations if it does not comply with the law. This spill happened in a manoomin/wild rice water, directly impacting Minnesotans who fish and gather in that waterway, and thus impacting tribal members’ treaty rights and our state grain. The state’s response to the spill is still ongoing more than a year later, and CURE and its allies may need to work to enforce the applicable laws to the extent that the state is unable or unwilling to do the job.
Peg Furshong Appointed to Statewide Water Task Force
In June, CURE’s Peg Furshong was appointed to Task Force on Future of Minnesota’s Water by Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Exposing the DNR
CURE has been working to highlight issues with care of wildlife management areas in Minnesota, and in October 2025, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) put out a special report to the legislature finding that the Department of Natural Resources does not have adequate procedures to assure habitat is maintained consistent with the law. Essentially, it was found that the DNR is failing to control logging on wildlife management areas.
This report found that the agency’s leadership could not show that it has been remedying problems identified by staff at the Fish and Wildlife Service, and a large portion of the DNR’s on-the-ground staff does not understand or believe in its policies for logging on wildlife areas. This is consistent with what CURE has heard from retired DNR employees, and is a shocking dereliction of duty on behalf of agency leadership and the governor’s office. We are encouraged that the OLA found the same problems we’ve been highlighting and we expect the legislature will rapidly address this with oversight hearings; the only way to fix this issue is to change agency culture and make sure that the public interest is again put above private profit. CURE encourages you to contact your state senator and ask for agency accountability and legislative oversight on DNR’s failure to control logging on wildlife management areas.
CO2 pipeline fight
As the year closes, Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline project continues to lumber along in fits & starts, embattled but not defeated. This spring, South Dakotans blocked eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. Based on this and other developments, CURE petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to reconsider Summit’s permit for a 28-mile pipeline in Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties; unfortunately, the petition was denied.
In the spring, CURE joined a Midwest delegation in Washington, D.C., to oppose expanding the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture, but Summit and other fossil fuel lobbyists secured its expansion through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Over the summer, Summit revamped its leadership and messaging, focusing on new pipeline routes that bypass South Dakota. The company is now seeking permit changes in Iowa to begin construction even without approvals in South Dakota or North Dakota. So far, Summit has not filed for additional route permits in Minnesota beyond the initial 28-mile segment despite touting a plan for 240+ miles of CO2 pipelines.
Raising Rural Voices
Defend Rural
This year, rural communities and people across Minnesota have been greatly impacted by federal action of the current administration. CURE has captured and told these stories—and asked people to share these stories with us. Only by standing together can we push back against the harms that are being enacted and instead build systems that help the hardworking people who live here.
New CURE website
CURE has grown—expanding our impact, our geography, and our issue areas—and now our new website, CUREmn.org, reflects the bold, democracy-driven future we’re building together across rural Minnesota.
Legislative Work
2025 was a year that required a lot of defensive work at the legislature. CURE saw multiple attempts to exempt specific industries from the 100% Carbon Free Standard, weaken our existing net metering law, and erode our bedrock environmental laws. CURE called out these bad bills, testified to the negative impacts they would have, and, ultimately, with the help of our partners and members of the public, we were successful in pushing back against these attempts. Read more about the 2025 session.
Protecting Communities & Democracy
CURE has helped lead a growing coalition of faith, immigrant, and community organizations opposing federal plans to reopen the long-shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN, as an ICE detention center. Owned by notorious private prison giant CoreCivic, the 1,600-bed facility would detain more people than the town’s entire population—undermining Minnesota’s values of dignity and welcome. Together with partners, CURE is calling for investment in real community needs—housing, childcare, and jobs—not mass detention.
Supporting People Powered Clean Energy
CURE helped to support the power of people in Minnesota’s rural electric co-ops by encouraging democratic participation in co-op elections with “Get Out the Vote” videos.
CURE’s Erik Hatlestad was named to the 2025 Grist50 list for his work on rural clean energy and electric cooperatives. This honor reflects Erik’s efforts helping design and pass the New ERA program that provides the largest investment in rural electrification in U.S. history.
Zero Waste & Rural Environmental Justice
CURE is an active member of the MN Zero Waste Coalition which is developing into an influential and authoritative voice for addressing the growing crisis of waste in the state. CURE and our allies in the Minnesota Zero Waste Coalition celebrated the passage of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging bill, one of the strongest such policies in the country, improving recycling options for our rural and urban communities, and making sure producers of packaging are accountable for the waste they produce. In early 2025, CURE’s Maggie Schuppert Named to Extended Producer Responsibility Packaging Board, helping to provide oversight and guidance in the state.
This year CURE also continued to advocate for innovative ideas and rural resilience in the face of a waste crisis and we are building on this work to promote localized, community-based, and accessible organics and waste management across the state of Minnesota; build state-wide support for policy to advance solutions and improve waste management standards and reduce emissions from landfills; and advocate for justice-based climate solutions that do not incentivize false climate solutions that risk contributing to climate emissions while burdening communities.
Fossil Fuel Pipelines
CURE is concerned about the tar sands pipelines that cross our lands and waters in northern MN. In 2025, we worked with legislative leaders and allies to support the Landowner Choice Bill, a proposed law that would require pipeline companies to pay for removal of decommissioned pipelines if the landowner requests it. This is already the law in Iowa, but in Minnesota, landowners can be left with abandoned pipe against their wishes. This bill was heard in the Senate Energy Committee where it passed, supported by testimony from CURE’s Sarah Mooradian. As with many bills in this divided legislative session, it was not heard in the House and did not become law this year.
Growing Our Team
Your support helped CURE hire new staff members to grow our reach across the state and expertise. In April, Eugene Strowbridge from Bemidji joined CURE as our Policy & Outreach Strategist and in August, Kelsey Olson from New London joined CURE as our Director of Environmental Stewardship.
CURE also host three legal interns over the course of the year: Dawson Weathers – University of Minnesota Law School, Marek Chorobski – Vermont Law School, Dina Crouch – St. Thomas Law School.
