Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

116C.69 Biennial report; application fees; appropriation; funding.

Subdivision 1. Biennial report. Before November 15 of each even-numbered year the board shall prepare and submit to the legislature a report of its operations, activities, findings, and recommendations concerning sections 116C.51 to 116C.69. The report shall also contain information on the board's biennial expenditures, its proposed budget for the following biennium, and the amounts paid in permit application fees and in assessments pursuant to this section. The proposed budget for the following biennium shall be subject to legislative review.

Subd. 2. Site application fee. Every applicant for a site permit shall pay to the board a fee in an amount equal to $500 for each $1,000,000 of production plant investment in the proposed installation as defined in the Federal Power Commission Uniform System of Accounts. The board shall specify the time and manner of payment of the fee. If any single payment requested by the board is in excess of 25 percent of the total estimated fee, the board shall show that the excess is reasonably necessary. The applicant shall pay within 30 days of notification any additional fees reasonably necessary for completion of the site evaluation and designation process by the board. In no event shall the total fees required of the applicant under this subdivision exceed an amount equal to 0.001 of said production plant investment ($1,000 for each $1,000,000). All money received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in a special account. Money in the account is appropriated to the board to pay expenses incurred in processing applications for site permits in accordance with sections 116C.51 to 116C.69 and in the event the expenses are less than the fee paid, to refund the excess to the applicant.

Subd. 2a. Route application fee. Every applicant for a transmission line route permit shall pay to the board a base fee of $35,000 plus a fee in an amount equal to $1,000 per mile length of the longest proposed route. The board shall specify the time and manner of payment of the fee. If any single payment requested by the board is in excess of 25 percent of the total estimated fee, the board shall show that the excess is reasonably necessary. In the event the actual cost of processing an application up to the board's final decision to designate a route exceeds the above fee schedule, the board may assess the applicant any additional fees necessary to cover the actual costs, not to exceed an amount equal to $500 per mile length of the longest proposed route. All money received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in a special account. Money in the account is appropriated to the board to pay expenses incurred in processing applications for route permits in accordance with sections 116C.51 to 116C.69 and in the event the expenses are less than the fee paid, to refund the excess to the applicant.

Subd. 3. Funding; assessment. The board shall finance its baseline studies, general environmental studies, development of criteria, inventory preparation, monitoring of conditions placed on site and route permits, and all other work, other than specific site and route designation, from an assessment made quarterly, at least 30 days before the start of each quarter, by the board against all utilities with annual retail kilowatt-hour sales greater than 4,000,000 kilowatt-hours in the previous calendar year.

Each share shall be determined as follows: (1) the ratio that the annual retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of each utility bears to the annual total retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of all these utilities, multiplied by 0.667, plus (2) the ratio that the annual gross revenue from retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of each utility bears to the annual total gross revenues from retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of all these utilities, multiplied by 0.333, as determined by the board. The assessment shall be credited to the special revenue fund and shall be paid to the state treasury within 30 days after receipt of the bill, which shall constitute notice of said assessment and demand of payment thereof. The total amount which may be assessed to the several utilities under authority of this subdivision shall not exceed the sum of the annual budget of the board for carrying out the purposes of this subdivision. The assessment for the second quarter of each fiscal year shall be adjusted to compensate for the amount by which actual expenditures by the board for the preceding fiscal year were more or less than the estimated expenditures previously assessed.

HIST: 1973 c 591 s 19 subds 1-3; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1977 c 439 s 25; 1981 c 356 s 313-315; 1982 c 482 s 5; 1Sp1985 c 13 s 240; 1987 c 186 s 15; 1987 c 304 s 1; 1988 c 690 art 1 s 4; 1989 c 335 art 1 s 269; 1990 c 597 s 56; 1995 c 220 s 110; 2001 c 212 art 7 s 28

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes