Impact

We’ve fought off unfair utility charges for ratepayers in nearly all of Minnesota’s 87 counties. We’ve advocated at the Public Utilities Commission against unfair corporate profits, cost overruns, and other unreasonable utility charges. 

We’ve brought bill savings, shutoff protections, energy efficiency advice, home electrification strategies, and more to households across the state, through individual conversations and partnerships with dozens of local organizations.

Because of CUB’s advocacy, Minnesota’s largest gas utilities must now share their projections and their plans for the future. Those plans will be subject to scrutiny by the public and parties like us and must be approved by state regulators. These “integrated resource plan” proceedings will be crucial so that Minnesota can decarbonize the gas system – and make sure the path to net zero emissions will protect ratepayers from unnecessary costs.

The Public Utilities Commission makes countless decisions that influence the cost and sources of energy in Minnesota. However, it is expensive and difficult to participate in PUC proceedings. That’s why CUB spearheaded a new “intervenor compensation law,” which allows Tribal nations and nonprofits with a financial need to be reimbursed for participating in Public Utilities Commission proceedings.  

Together with advocates for low-income Minnesotans and the state’s utilities, CUB helped Minnesota achieve nation-leading protections during the COVID-19 pandemic. A moratorium on utility shutoffs, the waiver of fees, and other important protections helped Minnesotans be safe, stable, and comfortable at home. 

After five years of advocating at the PUC, CUB won the full implementation of Open Data Access Standards, requiring utilities to share aggregated or anonymized energy usage data. These standards are helping cities and counties build stronger climate action plans and accurately account for greenhouse gas emissions. And researchers will be able to analyze the disparate impacts of utility rates and services on Minnesota households.  

For years, CUB has partnered with a diverse cohort of community groups, neighborhood associations, and nonprofits working to make utility efficiency programs more accessible to renters, low-income households, and communities of color. We led a study for the State of Minnesota, identifying strategies for equitable energy efficiency program design, and successfully advocated for the implementation of many of the study’s recommendations in utilities’ efficiency programs.

We’ve made important contributions to the transition to clean energy. Alongside other advocates, CUB contributed to stopping the construction of an unnecessary gas power plant at Xcel’s Sherco station, which made room for the largest solar project in the upper Midwest. We helped win a requirement that Xcel allow distributed solar projects to compete with utility projects when they solicit bids for new generation. And we helped to pass Minnesota’s Carbon-Free Electricity standard in 2023.