An amendment to the Omnibus Energy bill was proposed that would have improved the bill’s provisions on clean energy and consumer protections.
A conference committee was assigned to resolve differences between the House and Senate energy bills (S.F. 2101/H.F. 843). The House bill included a number of provisions that would have repealed some of Minnesota’s clean energy policies, and did not include improvements in clean energy policy proposed by the Senate. The conference committee failed to reach agreement.
Instead, the Legislature voted on the omnibus energy provisions in H.F. 1437. This bill included changes to Minnesota’s net metering law that would disincentivize solar and wind energy projects, although it did not include other repeals of clean energy policy proposed by the House. The bill also failed to include the consumer protection and clean energy improvements proposed by the Senate.
The amendment to the bill would have improved the bill by adding consumer protections and certain clean energy policy provisions.
What Would Happen?
The bill is improved by including clean energy provisions.
The bill is not improved. The Senate voted 33-30 to reject the proposed amendment and subsequently voted for final passage of the bill without the clean energy amendments. The House also voted for passage of the bill in the final minutes of the legislative session. The bill was presented to the Governor on May 20, and the Governor vetoed the bill on May 23, 2015. The bill will be re-negotiated in a special session.
How The Senate Voted
The bill is not improved. The Senate voted 33-30 to reject the proposed amendment and subsequently voted for final passage of the bill without the clean energy amendments. The House also voted for passage of the bill in the final minutes of the legislative session. The bill was presented to the Governor on May 20, and the Governor vetoed the bill on May 23, 2015. The bill will be re-negotiated in a special session.
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