SF 2615

1st Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 08/29/2014 01:12pm

A bill for an act
relating to energy; conservation; amending the amount the Department of
Commerce may assess utilities; allocating incremental revenue to develop and
maintain a statewide uniform energy conservation reporting system for utilities;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 216B.241, subdivision 1d.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 216B.241, subdivision 1d, is amended to
read:

Subd. 1d.

Technical assistance.

new text begin (a) new text end The commissioner shall evaluate energy
conservation improvement programs on the basis of cost-effectiveness and the reliability
of the technologies employed. The commissioner shall, by order, establish, maintain, and
update energy-savings assumptions that must be used when filing energy conservation
improvement programs. The commissioner shall establish an inventory of the most
effective energy conservation programs, techniques, and technologies, and encourage all
Minnesota utilities to implement them, where appropriate, in their service territories.
The commissioner shall describe these programs in sufficient detail to provide a utility
reasonable guidance concerning implementation. The commissioner shall prioritize the
opportunities in order of potential energy savings and in order of cost-effectiveness. The
commissioner may contract with a third party to carry out any of the commissioner's duties
under this subdivision, and to obtain technical assistance to evaluate the effectiveness of
any conservation improvement program. The commissioner may assess up to deleted text begin $800,000
annually until June 30, 2009, and $450,000 deleted text end new text begin $....... new text end annually deleted text begin thereafter deleted text end for the purposes
of this subdivision. The assessments must be deposited in the state treasury and credited
to the energy and conservation account created under subdivision 2a. An assessment
made under this subdivision is not subject to the cap on assessments provided by section
216B.62, or any other law.

new text begin (b) Of the assessment authorized under paragraph (a), the commissioner may expend
up to $....... annually for the purpose of developing, operating, maintaining, and providing
technical support for a uniform electronic data reporting and tracking system available to
all utilities subject to this section, in order to enable accurate measurement of the cost and
energy savings of the energy conservation improvements required by this section.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to assessments made after June 30, 2014.
new text end