Bill > HF21

This bill authorizes a new power purchase agreement between a public utility and a cogeneration facility in St. Paul, Minnesota. The key provisions of the bill are: 1. The cogeneration facility must continue to use waste wood as its primary fuel source, and any waste wood from ash trees must comply with state regulations on the emerald ash borer quarantine. 2. The price paid by the public utility for the electricity generated by the cogeneration facility must be comparable to the average cost paid for electricity generated by refuse-derived fuel. 3. The bill requires the public utility and cogeneration facility to submit a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission for an electrification project that would power the St. Paul district heating and cooling system using renewable energy technologies, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 4. The Public Utilities Commission may approve the power purchase agreement and electrification project if it meets the requirements and is in the public interest, and may allow the public utility to recover the prudently incurred costs of the electrification project through an automatic cost recovery mechanism.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF0021&ssn=5&y=2020