Published May 26, 2021 This past February, severe cold weather in Texas and the Midwest caused natural gas prices to spike nationwide. The price spike was caused by a “perfect storm” of: (i) increased demand (many households rely on natural gas for heat), (ii) reduced supply (some gas pipelines literally froze up in Texas and…
Published May 18, 2021 I recently wrote a blog about CenterPoint Energy’s petition to begin installing smart meters at the homes and businesses of its Minnesota customers. Like any time a regulated utility asks to spend its customers’ money, this proposal required approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). CUB recommended that the Commission…
April 22, 2021 The Washington Post Will Englund When that big freeze hit Texas in February, the Lone Star State couldn’t help but share its pain. With its ill-equipped natural gas systems clocked by the cold, Texas’s exports across the Rio Grande froze up and 4.7million customers in northern Mexico went without electricity — more…
Published April 21, 2021 Last Thursday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) adopted a transition plan to allow the state’s regulated utilities to resume service disconnections of residential customers. These utilities had been prohibited from disconnecting residential customers for nonpayment since the spring of 2020. The PUC approved a plan that will allow shutoffs to…
Published April 6, 2021 Back in December 2020, I wrote a blog about a program Xcel proposed to partially forgive unpaid utility bills of Minnesota customers who are among the farthest past-due on their bills. The “Payment Plan Credit Proposal” was one of several proposals Xcel made in the “Economic Recovery docket,” which the Public…
Published April 5, 2021 CenterPoint Energy has asked Minnesota regulators for permission to begin installing smart meters to serve its residential natural gas customers. However, CenterPoint provided very little justification for charging customers the hefty price of these advanced meters and has not demonstrated that the value to customers will be worth the expense. For…
Published April 5, 2021 Back in January, I wrote a blog about Minnesota Power’s efforts to take a procedural step towards recovering revenue losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a nutshell, the Company sought the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) permission to calculate the amount of revenue it lost when two of its large industrial…
Published April 2, 2021 Two weeks ago, I wrote about proposed legislation to help consumers weather a dramatic spike in the price of natural gas that occurred in February. The issue is moving forward in both the legislative and regulatory arenas, so I am back with an update. The severe cold weather that hit Texas…
March 6, 2021 Star Tribune Mike Hughlett The rise of natural gas-fired power was long welcomed — or at least accepted — by both utilities and clean-energy groups. Gas vanquished coal, cutting both carbon dioxide emissions and wholesale electricity costs. But to renewable-energy advocates, gas’ days are numbered — at least as far as building…
Published March 8, 2021 2020 was a challenging year (understatement). All of us have been affected, in some way, by COVID-19 and measures taken to slow its spread. That said, Minnesota’s COVID-19 Response data shows that the pandemic has been disproportionately harmful to certain demographic groups. Throughout the pandemic, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color…
