Hope for renewable energy cooperation grows stronger

by Dennis Geisinger

The future of renewable energy in Minnesota got a significant power surge in August. The drafting and signing into law of a number of bills designed to increase the development of new energy resources in outstate communities will foster partnerships with metro energy consumers.

“Minnesota now has the most aggressive renewable energy standard (RES) in the United States, thanks to a new law sponsored by Rep. Aaron Peterson (DFL-Appleton) and Sen. Ellen Anderson (DFL-St. Paul),” according to information from the state legislature. Additionally, “The Next Generation Energy Act,” authored by Peterson, sponsored by Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL-Finlayson) and Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL-Duluth) and representing much of Pawlenty's “Next Generation Energy Initiative,” calls for investments in renewable power and for increasing energy conservation while decreasing the state's production of environmentally harmful emissions.

The new RES law will gradually increase the amount of the state's electricity coming from wind, solar, hydroelectric and other renewable sources to 25 percent by 2025. Xcel Energy, the state's biggest power company, will be held to a 30 percent level by 2020. Sources for Minnesota's electricity generation currently break down to 61.2 percent coal, 26.1 percent nuclear, 4.7 percent natural gas, 0.2 percent oil, 1.3 percent hydro and 6.7 percent from renewable and other sources, according to state public utilities.
“It took me five years to build the political support needed to pass the bill,” said Rep. Peterson. “And when it finally passed, we put in place the strongest standard in the nation,” he said.

According to Rep. Peterson, there are currently 11,000 mega-watts of wind power in America. The Minnesota RES will produce approximately 5 to 6,000 mega-watts of wind power in Minnesota and the upper Midwest. It will also create a market that drives investment and benefits for many rural communities across the state.

The Next Generation Energy Act will speed the realization of much more Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED). The law empowers C-BED to help ordinary citizens participate directly in the economic benefits associated with developing renewable energy, according to Dan Juhl of Woodstock Wind Farms LLC. Energy dollars, about $6 billion per year for electricity alone in Minnesota, will increasingly circulate throughout the state's economy rather than leaving its borders.

The law advances better strategic planning for the development of new power lines needed to deliver renewable energy to consumers. Electric utilities are directed to work with C-BED and other stakeholders to help place renewable energy generation facilities where they can optimize efficient usage of the existing power line grid, and then expand the existing grid to accommodate the next sets of C-BED projects.

This translates into significant savings for ratepayers, says Juhl.
“Community based development can also bring unprecedented economic development and jobs to the rural communities who so desperately need them,” said Juhl. “Given that we Minnesotans just passed a law requiring our utilities to have 25 percent of our electric power generated from wind and renewables, this should be leveraged into real, meaningful economic development that will create jobs and keep our energy dollars in our state and communities,” he said.
Instead of rewarding energy producers for selling kilowatt hours,” said George Crocker, executive director of the North American Water Office, Lake Elmo, Minn. “It rewards energy producers for producing and transmitting energy efficiently,” Crocker said.

“This affects the metro areas hugely,” said Crocker. “It allows, say, a neighborhood association in Minneapolis to partner with an outstate energy board that's an efficient power source,” Crocker said.

“It allows all Minnesota residents to participate with landowners to get financially involved with renewable energy projects,” said Rep. Peterson. “In short, the wind turbine doesn't need to be in your back yard for participation,” he said.
Exponents of most renewable energy resources say that with prices for energy produced from fossil fuels soaring, renewable energy is now able to compete in the marketplace. Twenty-one states besides Minnesota (including Wisconsin and Iowa) have passed laws that currently require or will require in the next 10 to 15 years a certain percentage of energy production from renewable resources, according to a report prepared for “The Electricity Journal.”

“With twenty-two Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) policies now in existence in the U.S., covering 40 percent of the nation's electrical load, the importance of these programs is expected to build over the coming decade,” the report concluded.

“This is a great opportunity for solar power to take part in the energy future of the state,” said Doug Shoemaker, co-chair of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) in South Minneapolis.

Shoemaker's MRES promotes the use of solar power in just about all aspects of the city's life-from solar panels that heat space and provide hot water for businesses and homes, to solar-powered electric cars.

“At this year's state fair we're going to have a solar-powered electric car called a ZAP on display,” said Shoemaker. “It has a range of about 20 miles and retails for around $10,000. It's got a solar panel that can be flipped up to generate power when it's parked,” he said.

Shoemaker said that a source from an electric utility outside the state told him that in the near future, electric cars plugged into power grids will be used to provide power during low transmission periods so the utility will either charge for the energy you use to recharge your car or credit you for the energy you put back into the system.

He said that after construction is completed on the new Great River Energy headquarters in Elk River it will be the largest solar-powered building in the state.