SF 995

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to energy; modifying provisions relating to 
  1.3             environmental costs of electricity generation; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 216B.2422, 
  1.5             subdivision 3. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 216B.2422, 
  1.8   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 3.  [ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS.] (a) The commission shall, 
  1.10  to the extent practicable, quantify and establish a range of 
  1.11  environmental costs associated with each method of electricity 
  1.12  generation.  A utility shall use the values established by the 
  1.13  commission in conjunction with other external factors, including 
  1.14  socioeconomic costs, when evaluating and selecting the criteria 
  1.15  set out in paragraph (b), to evaluate electric resource options 
  1.16  in all proceedings before the commission, including resource 
  1.17  plan and certificate of need proceedings. 
  1.18     (b) All proposed or requested imports of electricity are 
  1.19  subject to the same criteria as that applied to in-state 
  1.20  generated electricity, in all resource decisions.  These 
  1.21  criteria apply whether the electricity is to be generated from 
  1.22  an existing or proposed electric generating facility or system.  
  1.23  These criteria apply whether or not costs have been attributed 
  1.24  by the commission to any environmental impact associated with 
  1.25  the proposed supply of electricity, and the attribution of costs 
  2.1   to any impact does not render it a worse impact.  Criteria 
  2.2   include: 
  2.3      (1) provision of a detailed accounting, based on evidence, 
  2.4   from the proposed supplier, of the nature and extent of all 
  2.5   above-minimal environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated 
  2.6   or likely to be associated with the system from which the 
  2.7   electricity would be generated; 
  2.8      (2) provision of a detailed accounting, based on evidence, 
  2.9   from the proposed supplier of the nature and extent of all 
  2.10  measures employed; committed to be employed through statute, 
  2.11  treaty, other law, agreement, or otherwise; or planned to be 
  2.12  employed, to mitigate, remedy, or otherwise address all these 
  2.13  environmental and social impacts; 
  2.14     (3) for greater certainty, an assessment of the impact that 
  2.15  each different source of electricity or supplier of electricity 
  2.16  is associated with, against the impact with which each source or 
  2.17  supplier in fact is or is likely to be associated; 
  2.18     (4) for greater certainty, where electricity is generated 
  2.19  from an integrated system rather than one discrete facility, an 
  2.20  accounting of all impacts associated with the entire system; and 
  2.21     (5) preference given to generation and use of renewable 
  2.22  energy.  
  2.23     (c) For purposes of this subdivision, "renewable energy" 
  2.24  includes those resources listed in subdivision 1 that have not 
  2.25  caused or are unlikely to cause significant impacts after all 
  2.26  actual and committed or planned remediation and mitigation 
  2.27  measures are taken into account. 
  2.28     (d) The commission shall establish interim environmental 
  2.29  cost values associated with each method of electricity 
  2.30  generation by March 1, 1994.  These values expire on the date 
  2.31  the commission establishes environmental cost values under 
  2.32  paragraph (a).