Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meaning given them.

(b) "Carbon-free" means a technology that generates electricity without emitting carbon
dioxide.

(c) Unless otherwise specified in law, "eligible energy technology" means an energy
technology that generates electricity from the following renewable energy sources:

(1) solar;

(2) wind;

(3) hydroelectric deleted text begin with a capacity of: (i) less than 100 megawatts; or (ii) 100 megawatts
or more, provided that the facility is in operation as of February 8, 2023deleted text end ;

(4) hydrogen generated from the resources listed in this paragraph; or

(5) biomass, which includes, without limitation, landfill gas; an anaerobic digester
system; the predominantly organic components of wastewater effluent, sludge, or related
by-products from publicly owned treatment works, but not including incineration of
wastewater sludge to produce electricity; and, except as provided in subdivision 1a, an
energy recovery facility used to capture the heat value of mixed municipal solid waste or
refuse-derived fuel from mixed municipal solid waste as a primary fuel.

(d) "Electric utility" means: (1) a public utility providing electric service; (2) a generation
and transmission cooperative electric association; (3) a municipal power agency; (4) a power
district; or (5) a cooperative electric association or municipal utility providing electric service
that is not a member of an entity in clauses (2) to (4).

(e) "Environmental justice area" means an area in Minnesota that, based on the most
recent data published by the United States Census Bureau, meets one or more of the following
criteria:

(1) 40 percent or more of the area's total population is nonwhite;

(2) 35 percent or more of households in the area have an income that is at or below 200
percent of the federal poverty level;

(3) 40 percent or more of the area's residents over the age of five have limited English
proficiency; or

(4) the area is located within Indian country, as defined in United State Code, title 18,
section 1151.

(f) "Total retail electric sales" means the kilowatt-hours of electricity sold in a year by
an electric utility to retail customers of the electric utility or to a distribution utility for
distribution to the retail customers of the distribution utility.

Subd. 2b.

Modification or delay of standard.

(a) The commission shall modify or delay
the implementation of a standard obligation under subdivision 2a, 2f, or 2g, in whole or in
part, if the commission determines that modifying or delaying the standard obligation is in
the public interest. The commission, when evaluating a request to modify or delay
implementation of a standard, must consider:

(1) the impact of implementing the standard on its customers' utility costs, including the
economic and competitive pressure on the utility's customers;

(2) the environmental costs that would be incurred as a result of a delay or modification,
based on the full range of environmental cost values established in section 216B.2422,
subdivision 3;

(3) the effects of implementing the standard on the reliability of the electric system;

(4) technical advances or technical concerns;

(5) delays in acquiring sites or routes due to rejection or delays of necessary siting or
other permitting approvals;

(6) delays, cancellations, or nondelivery of necessary equipment for construction or
commercial operation of an eligible energy technology facility;

(7) transmission constraints preventing delivery of service;

(8) other statutory obligations imposed on the commission or a utility;

(9) impacts on environmental justice areas; and

(10) additional electric load from beneficial electrification and the greenhouse gas
emissions savings associated with those loads as compared to serving the load with
nonelectric energy sources.

For the purposes of this paragraph, "beneficial electrification" means the substitution of
electricity for a fossil fuel, provided that the substitution meets at least one of the following
conditions without adversely affecting either of the other two, as determined by the
commission:

(i) saves a consumer money over the long run compared with continued use of the fossil
fuel;

(ii) enables an electric utility to better manage the electric utility's electric grid network;
or

(iii) reduces negative environmental impacts of fuel use, including but not limited to
statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

(b) The commission may modify or delay implementation of a standard obligation under
paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (4), only if it finds implementation would cause significant rate
impact, requires significant measures to address reliability, or raises significant technical
issues. The commission may modify or delay implementation of a standard obligation under
paragraph (a), clauses (5) to (7), only if it finds that the circumstances described in those
clauses were due to circumstances beyond an electric utility's control and make compliance
not feasible.

(c) When evaluating transmission capacity constraints under paragraph (a), clause (7),
the commission must consider whether the utility has:

(1) taken reasonable measures that are under the utility's control and consistent with the
utility's obligations under local, state, and federal laws and regulations, and the utility's
obligations as a member of a regional transmission organization or independent system
operator, to acquire sites, necessary permit approvals, and necessary equipment to develop
and construct new transmission lines or upgrade existing transmission lines to transmit
electricity generated by eligible energy technologies; and

(2) taken all reasonable operational measures to maximize cost-effective electricity
delivery from eligible energy technologies in advance of transmission availability.

(d) When considering whether to delay or modify implementation of a standard obligation,
the commission must give due consideration to a preference for electric generation through
use of eligible energy technology and to the achievement of the standards set by this section.

(e) An electric utility that requests a modification or delay to the implementation of a
standard must file a plan to comply with the electric utility's standard obligation as part of
the same proceeding in which the electric utility requests the modification or delay.

new text begin (f) The requirement to meet a standard obligation under this section is automatically
delayed for three years for any electric utility that does not meet the goal established under
section 216C.05, subdivision 2, clause (4), as determined by the commissioner.
new text end

Subd. 3b.

deleted text begin Nuclear power plant; new construction prohibited; relicensingdeleted text end new text begin Additional
storage of spent nuclear fuelnew text end .

deleted text begin (a) The commission may not issue a certificate of need for
the construction of a new nuclear-powered electric generating plant.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (b)deleted text end Any certificate of need for additional storage of spent nuclear fuel for a facility
seeking a license extension shall address the impacts of continued operations over the period
for which approval is sought.

Subd. 15.

Residential heating fuels.

Residential heating fuels are exempt as follows:

(1) all fuel oil, coal, wood, steam, hot water, propane gas, and L.P. gas sold to residential
customers for residential use;

(2) deleted text begin for the billing months of November, December, January, February, March, and April,deleted text end
natural gas sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as residential
users and who use natural gas for their primary source of residential heat; and

(3) deleted text begin for the billing months of November, December, January, February, March, and April,deleted text end
electricity sold for residential use to customers who are metered and billed as residential
users and who use electricity for their primary source of residential heat.