Tell your State Senator to Oppose SF 2393!
Minnesotans deserve a clean, fair, and affordable energy future, not bad policies with bad outcomes!
SF 2393, the Senate Energy Omnibus bill includes several bad policy provisions that would eliminate essential means to increase distributed generation, provide opportunities for public participation in energy generation, and access to low-cost energy resources, while also walking back on our state’s carbon-free goals, and providing industry-specific exemptions to the laws intended to protect our communities, energy systems, and environment. This includes:
- Weakening Minnesota’s Net Metering program. While Minnesota’s approach to net metering is not perfect, weakening the program in the way proposed by this bill is not the solution. As new strains on our energy system continue to arise—from increased demand to more frequent and intense storms—we will need more distributed energy generation, not less. The net metering program is an essential tool that allows Minnesotans to generate their own power while providing significant energy system benefits to other ratepayers and the grid overall.
- Eliminating Minnesota’s Community Solar Garden program. Community solar is a popular and effective tool for thousands of Minnesotans to reduce their electricity bills and participate in the just transition to a carbon-free energy future, even if they don’t have the means to install their own rooftop solar. The Department of Commerce estimates that the Community Solar Garden program delivers nearly $3 billion in net benefits for the state, and another $1.6 billion for developers, who in turn provide jobs, lease payments for land use, and other community benefits. Eliminating a program whose benefits significantly outweigh any costs is not in Minnesotans’ best interests.
- Allowing Big Tech to circumvent our environmental laws. The bill allows Big Tech companies to circumvent essential environmental reviews when building hyperscale data centers. These centers are notorious for their intense water and electricity demands.
- Eroding our state’s historic 100% Carbon-free law. In 2023, the legislature passed the 100% carbon-free law. The law explicitly states that “‘carbon-free’ means a technology that generates electricity without emitting carbon dioxide.” Despite this, S.F. 2329 would create an exemption for the combustion of B100 biofuel at peaking plants, which, by its very nature, emits carbon. Additionally, the production of biofuels like B100 have significant impacts on our land, water, air, and human health. Creating industry-specific carve-outs to the 100% carbon-free law is a step in the wrong direction for Minnesota’s energy future.
Now more than ever, Minnesota needs to take an active role in promoting carbon-free energy generation at all scales, protecting our communities and environment from potential harm, and ensuring that businesses follow the law.
