How Cities Can Steer State Action — Episode 186 of Local Energy Rules

Date: 21 Jun 2023 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Stacy Miller explains how she represents the city of Minneapolis in state forums, including the Public Utilities Commission, and what’s at stake in decisions made by the state.… Read More

Updating Minnesota’s Dated Distributed Generation Tariff

Date: 1 Oct 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In this testimony sent to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, John Farrell explains why the state’s 2001 distributed generation tariff has come up short and deserves an update.… Read More

Why Utilities in Minnesota and Other States Need to Plan for More Competition

Date: 22 Jul 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This report explores the undercounting of customer-sited and non-utility solar in utility distributed resource forecasting. It finds that Xcel Energy’s forecasts for distributed solar in Minnesota are strikingly low.… Read More

ILSR’s Testimony Supports Regulators in Unanimous Rejection of Gas Plant Purchase

Date: 16 Oct 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

On Friday, September 27th, research associate Maria McCoy testified to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Listen to her statement, arguing against Xcel Energy’s proposed purchase of a gas plant, in this five minute video.… Read More

Should Utilities Be Buying New Gas Plants?

Date: 25 Feb 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

When a monopoly electric company in Minnesota recently went shopping to buy a new gas plant, we offered our candid assessment to the state’s regulators: affordable renewable energy and energy storage make this a risky bet for the state’s electricity customers.… Read More

Electric Utilities Must Stop Illegally Concealing Public Cost Data

Date: 4 Feb 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Utilities in many states have undercut competition by playing “hide the peanut.” Instead of sharing their avoided cost publicly, as required by Congress and state laws, utilities have hidden them behind a “trade secret” designation.… Read More

Minnesota Utility Tees Up Programs to Support an Electric Vehicle Future

Date: 23 Jan 2019 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In a filing late last year, a Minnesota electric utility put forward two new electric vehicle charging pilots as part of a suite of new policy tools to encourage driving electric. ILSR applauds the efforts, and offers a few suggestions.… Read More

Minnesota Regulators Schedule Hearings on Frontier Communications’ Anti-Competition Actions

Date: 7 Jun 2018 | posted in: MuniNetworks | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

National ISPs with millions of customers are some of the most hated companies in the U.S. Poor customer service, contract tricks, and a refusal to upgrade services are only a few of the common complaints from subscribers who are often trapped due to lack of competition. Frontier Communications is proudly carrying on that tradition of deficiency in Minnesota. In fact, the company’s excellence at skullduggery has drawn the attention of the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which launched an investigation into the service quality of Frontier this spring.… Read More

Utility Proposes Electric Vehicle Charging Pilot, But Will Anyone Opt In for No Benefit?

Date: 1 Mar 2018 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A Minnesota utility proposes a new program allowing electric vehicle owners to charge their vehicles at night for a lower price, but monthly maintenance fees mean drivers won’t save any money. ILSR provides comments to the state’s Public Utilities Commission illustrating the problem and proposing a solution.… Read More

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