1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to utilities; requiring two public utilities 
  1.3             commissioners to be from Greater Minnesota; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 216A.03, subdivision 
  1.5             1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 216A.03, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [MEMBERS.] The public utilities commission 
  1.10  shall consist of five members.  The terms of members shall be 
  1.11  six years and until their successors have been appointed and 
  1.12  qualified.  Each commissioner shall be appointed by the governor 
  1.13  by and with the advice and consent of the senate.  Not more than 
  1.14  three commissioners shall belong to the same political party.  
  1.15  At least ~~one commissioner must have been domiciled~~ two members, 
  1.16  at the time of appointment, must have been domiciled (1) at 
  1.17  least 50 miles from commission's offices and (2) outside the 
  1.18  seven-county metropolitan area.  If the membership of the 
  1.19  commission after ~~July 31, 1986,~~ the effective date of this 
  1.20  section does not consist of at least ~~one member domiciled~~ two 
  1.21  members who, at the time of appointment, were domiciled at least 
  1.22  50 miles from the commission's offices and outside the 
  1.23  seven-county metropolitan area, the membership shall conform to 
  1.24  this requirement following normal attrition of the present 
  1.25  commissioners.  The governor when selecting commissioners shall 
  2.1   give consideration to persons learned in the law or persons who 
  2.2   have engaged in the profession of engineering, public 
  2.3   accounting, property and utility valuation, finance, physical or 
  2.4   natural sciences, production agriculture, or natural resources 
  2.5   as well as being representative of the general public. 
  2.6      For purposes of this subdivision, "seven-county 
  2.7   metropolitan area" means Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, 
  2.8   Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties. 
  2.9      Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.10     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.