Last week, Senate Democrats brought forward SF-4, also known as the “Blackout Bill” because it has the potential to lead to energy blackouts across our state. During my time in the Senate, I’ve been involved in the energy sector, and I have previously carried the ECO Act. Most folks remember that bill—it took multiple years to get it to a good point that served all parties and stakeholders. We took our time, nearly 4 years, to ensure the agreement aligned with all parties. We had an excellent bill, and we were able to pass it with overwhelming support from a divided legislature. I was proud of the work we did. This year’s Blackout Bill is the exact opposite in every way.

This bill has not gone through the necessary discussions that so many other energy proposals have gone through at this legislature. It is unnerving that a bill of this scope has moved so quickly through both bodies. As a result, the people of Minnesota were not given enough time to understand what’s in the bill before it passed. This bill sets unattainable goals and will negatively affect both families and small co-ops.

While we debated on the floor, Senate Democrats repeatedly claimed that this bill will reduce emissions. As someone who works in trades, I have a hard time with that claim, because this bill does nothing but provide an unattainable goal for most of our co-ops and municipals. Technology is what will move us to carbon-free energy future—the people in the fields who are installing and working on those technologies are what will get us there. This bill simply sets a goal that is unattainable for many small utility providers. Many of our local co-ops and municipals were working on plans to reach carbon-free status, but cannot come close to the new 2040 deadline. Now they will be forced to rely heavily on the bigger energy providers. This bill doesn’t even offer these smaller groups an “offramp” from the plan to give them a bit of flexibility.

We can be good stewards and can move towards a carbon-free energy future, but we have to do so in a way that maintains affordability and reliability for Minnesotans. Families across the state cannot afford for utilities to cost more than they already do. Inflation has affected prices everywhere, and this bill ensures its reach will stretch into utility costs, despite the fact that they have already been steadily rising year after year. Couple this with potential for rolling blackouts, and energy is no longer reliable nor affordable. People expect the lights to come on when they flip a light switch, but this bill does away with that stability. 

Throughout our debate, myself and my colleagues offered numerous amendments to make this bill better. We tried to include nuclear energy in this plan, because that is currently the cleanest form of energy we have. We even tried to temporarily prohibit the demolition of retired fossil fuel-powered electric generation facilities up to 10 years after being decommissioned, so that if rolling blackouts were to occur, we could have a backup source of energy production. Unfortunately, every amendment was voted down on a party line vote. It was clear this bill was going to be forced through, despite our best efforts to make it better. Our goal was simply to offer helpful amendments, so that Minnesotans do not have to worry about energy scarcity as we work towards a carbon-free future. Unfortunately, Democrats had no interest in engaging in these discussions, instead choosing to push forward a bill that simply wasn’t ready for a vote.

I’m incredibly disappointed that we were left with another extreme piece of legislation that does little to look out for Minnesotans. Senate Republicans tried to offer amendments that keep costs down, energy reliable, and allow the use of coal and natural gas when the grid is overwhelmed. I’m disappointed that Democrats voted down every commonsense amendment we offered. As a result, Minnesota will be forced to grapple with less reliable energy, rolling blackouts, and increased costs. This bill leaves Minnesota in the dark.