1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to utilities; regulating the qualifications to be a member of the Public 
1.3 	Utilities Commission;amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 216A.03, 
1.4 	subdivision 1.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 216A.03, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Members. The Public Utilities Commission shall consist of five 
1.8 	members. The terms of members shall be six years and until their successors have been 
1.9 	appointed and qualified. Each commissioner shall be appointed by the governor by and 
1.10 	with the advice and consent of the senate. Not more than three commissioners shall belong 
1.11 	to the same political party. At least one commissioner must have been domiciled at the 
1.12 	time of appointment outside the seven-county metropolitan area. At least one member 
1.13 	must reside in an area within the exclusive service territory of an electric cooperative or 
1.14 	a municipal electric utility. If the membership of the commission after July 31, 1986, 
1.15 	does not consist of at least one member domiciled at the time of appointment outside 
1.16 	the seven-county metropolitan area, the membership shall conform to this requirement 
1.17 	following normal attrition of the present commissioners. The governor when selecting 
1.18 	commissioners shall give consideration to persons learned in the law or persons who have 
1.19 	engaged in the profession of engineering, public accounting, property and utility valuation, 
1.20 	finance, physical or natural sciences, production agriculture, or natural resources as well 
1.21 	as being representative of the general public.
1.22 	For purposes of this subdivision, "seven-county metropolitan area" means Anoka, 
1.23 	Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington Counties.

2.1 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2013, provided that if 
2.2 	no commissioner satisfies the qualification for commission membership added by this 
2.3 	section, a commissioner satisfying that qualification must be appointed to fill the first 
2.4 	commissioner vacancy occurring after the effective date.