Minnesota Passes Landmark Legislation on Grid Enhancing Technologies
The Minnesota legislature passed a bill, HF 5247, that adds Grid Enhancing Technologies to the state’s transmission planning process (Article 42 Sec. 21) and requires utilities owning more than 750 miles of transmission lines to evaluate GETs on highly congested lines (Article 42 Sec. 52). The law also improves transparency by requiring utilities to explain their current line rating methodology.
Representative Larry Kraft said:
“I am thrilled we moved these Grid Enhancing Technologies, or GETs, provisions forward. GETs can help us bring more renewables onto the grid by quickly increasing capacity on existing transmission lines with relatively modest investments. Utilities like Great River Energy and Xcel Energy have demonstrated the value of Dynamic Line Ratings, a type of GETs, in pilots – this bill will accelerate the implementation of various GETs where they save ratepayers money and improve reliability.”
Hilary Pearson, Chair of the WATT Coalition, said:
“Minnesota’s bill provides a model for other states to ensure that utilities are evaluating low-cost Grid Enhancing Technologies for economic efficiency and reliability applications. This law will help regulators align utility behavior with customer interests. We applaud the Minnesota legislature for advancing this bill and thank Representative Larry Kraft for his leadership. We hope that Governor Tim Walz signs the legislation into law.”
Julia Selker, Executive Director of the WATT Coalition, said:
“Grid Enhancing Technologies will unlock cleaner and cheaper electricity for Minnesota ratepayers and ensure these lowest-cost solutions are included in transmission planning. We encourage other states to follow this example of pragmatic legislation. States can lean on their authority over land use and resource planning to require GETs study and implementation planning. States with climate targets have strong authority under the Federal Power Act to require actions supporting their chosen resource goals. WATT is happy to share resources with state legislators, and will be at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators National Forum in August to discuss GETs.”
Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies | watt-transmission.org