Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Major changes coming to a Minnesota renewable energy fund

Midwest Energy News: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton last week approved a jobs and energy bill that will make major changes to a renewable energy fund that was created in 1994.

The bill will allow the Xcel Energy-managed Renewable Development Fund to be used to help towns dealing with closure of biomass plants, as well as end the Made In Minnesota solar manufacturing program, which received $15 million in annual funding. Republicans argued the program was too costly and did not create many solar manufacturing jobs.

Rep. Pat Garofalo, the Republican chair of the House energy committee, called this year the “most meaningful” energy session since 1994, when the legislature passed a law requiring Xcel money to pay into a fund in return for the right to store spent casks at Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant.

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