The week before last the House Energy Committee continued to hear testimony on Rep. Aaron Peterson's Renewable Energy Standard (HF 4), and will consider
amendments and the bill on Monday.
The House bill accelerates the transition to renewable energy from the current voluntary goal of 10 percent of retail sales by 2015 to mandatory standards, according to the following schedule: 11 percent in 2013, 15 percent in 2015, and 25 percent in 2020.
The committee considered the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that the Senate passed last week (SF 4) and passed it out of committee. The Senate bill is similar to the House version (HF4), and was developed as a consensus bill by a number of stakeholders.
With passage of this bill in its present form, Minnesota will have the strongest Renewable Energy Standard in the United States. The Renewable Energy Standard bill, SF 4, will be debated on the House Floor Monday evening.
This bill creates a mandatory Renewable Energy Standard (RES). Xcel Energy, which generates approximately half of the electricity used in Minnesota, will be required to generate at least 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020; 25 percent of the renewable source must be wind.
The rest of Minnesota's utilities will be required to generate at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.