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What The Commission Regulates
Electric and Natural Gas Energy Regulation:
- Rate changes
- Energy resource planning and certification
- Service area
- Utility company mergers and acquisitions
- Formal complaints
- Reasonableness of utility fuel costs, including natural gas purchasing practices and purchased power agreements
Energy Facilities Planning
Facility Planning includes both the need for a project and/or a permit for a proposed site or route. Facilities cases are usually:
- Large electric power plants
- Electric transmission lines
- Oil and natural gas pipelines
- Storage facilities
- Solar energy generating systems
- Wind energy conversion systems
Telecommunications
Telecom cases are wireline (landline) and usually relate to:
- Carrier Interconnection agreement approval and arbitration
- Local and long distance carrier certification and service quality standards
- Local exchange competition rulemaking
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Telephone Assistance Program and Lifeline
- Universal service programs
How the Commission Works
The Commission is Minnesota’s utility regulator:
- Carries out the duties and responsibilities assigned by laws
- Is both quasi-judicial, similar to a court and quasi-legislative, similar to the legislature
- Creates rules relating to utility’s conduct and procedures, monitors utility operations and initiates investigations
- Provides a forum for resolving disputes between the public and utilities
- Considers the viewpoints of interested parties or stakeholders and the public
- Recognizes changes in society and technology so that competition is encouraged
- Seeks to balance and protect the interests of the public and the utility
- Develops and retains competent and dedicated commissioners and staff
To ensure safe, reliable and efficient utility services, the Commission:
- Works to emphasize the production and use of energy resources that are friendly to the environment
- Encourages conservation
- Provides the means to put the state energy policies into effect
- Establishes rules related to safety and quality of service
- Encourages development and application of new technologies and services for the public
Commission outcomes that impact the public and utilities:
- Approves rates and service quality standards for large electric and natural gas companies
- Approves resource plans for large electric utilities, including consideration of environmental effect of energy use
- Grants Certificates of Need for large energy facilities, including power plants and transmission lines
- Sets up accounting and depreciation procedures for electric and natural gas utilities
- Approves financial incentives for energy conservation
- Serves as board of appeals for the Conservation Improvement Program
- Sets incentives for gas purchasing programs
- Encourages and approves co-generation and small power generation resources
How It Happens
In creating and maintaining the proper regulatory environment, the Commission
- carries out the duties and responsibilities assigned to it by law
- operates in both a quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative capacity
- creates rules relating to the conduct of utilities and the procedures under which the Commission operates
- makes decisions to support the public interest, considering a wide variety of factors
- provides a forum for resolving disputes between the public and utilities
- considers the various viewpoints of interested parties
- monitors utility operations
- initiates investigations and deliberates in the public interest
- retains competent and dedicated commissioners and staff.
In ensuring the delivery of safe, reliable and efficient utility services, the Commission:
- emphasizes the production and consumption of energy resources that will minimize damage to the environment;
- encourages conservation;
- implements the state's energy policies;
- establishes rules related to safety and quality of service;
- encourages the development and appropriate implementation of new technologies and services for the public.
In making this all happen, the Commission:
- Approves rates and service quality standards for large electric and natural gas companies
- Approves resource plans for large electric utilities, including consideration of environmental effect of energy use
- Grants Certificates of Need for large energy facilities, including power plants and transmission lines
- Establishes depreciation and accounting procedures for electric and natural gas utilities
- Approves appropriate financial incentives for energy conservation
- Serves as board of appeals for the Conservation Improvement Program
- Sets appropriate incentives for gas purchasing programs
- Encourages and approves co-generation and small power generation resources
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