On Thursday, Senate Democrats once again forced through extreme hyper-partisan language on a party line vote. SF-4, known as the “Blackout Bill,” is the Democrats’ extreme energy bill that mandates all electric production in the state of Minnesota to be 100% carbon-free by 2040. The legislation closes our state to coal and natural gas and mandates the shift to renewable energy sources of solar, wind, hydroelectric, hydrogen, and biomass. Most notably, the bill fails to consider nuclear energy. The United States Department of Energy categorizes nuclear energy as “clean and sustainable,” because it protects air quality, the land footprint is small, and it produces minimal waste.

“Energy must always be affordable and reliable, and any changes to our energy standards must consider every source of carbon-free energy—today’s bill falls short in many ways, but it specifically overlooks two of our cleanest energy sources: nuclear and natural gas,” said Senator Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake). “Electrical energy is an integral part of our state’s economy, and the demand for electricity continues to rise. Minnesotans cannot afford increasing energy costs, and they certainly cannot cope with a grid failure during times of extreme weather, yet this bill ensures both. We support the ingenuity that moves Minnesota to a carbon-free generation, but if we’re going to have a serious discussion about achieving this goal, we must take an all-of-the-above approach that considers all forms of clean energy without increasing costs for families across the state.” 

As an alternative,Sen. Pratt offered the A+ Energy Plan, which instead focuses on reliable, affordable, and consistent energy. The plan would end the ban on nuclear power construction in Minnesota, and would include hydroelectric, renewable natural gas and carbon sequestration as allowable clean energy alternatives. The A+ Energy plan also streamlines permitting to allow more energy to be produced in Minnesota, instead of importing it from other states, and would allow for coal and natural gas to be used to prevent blackouts when demand is higher than average.

Highlights of the Republican A+ Energy Plan include:  

• Allowing nuclear construction in the state  
• Authorizing hydroelectric power to count as a renewable energy  
• Affordable renewable natural gas to continue to reduce emissions  
• Always On natural gas and coal for reliability and affordability  
• All-of-the-Above strategy to mix solar, wind, hydroelectric, hydrogen, and biomass with our current energy sources

During debate, Senate Republicans offered numerous amendments. Democrats were unwilling to compromise, instead voting down every amendment on a party-line vote.