1.1Senator Frentz moved to amend the Senjem amendment to
S.F. No. 1018 as
1.2follows:
1.3Page 2, after line 30, insert:
1.4 "Sec. 2.
LOW-INCOME NATURAL GAS HEATING ASSISTANCE; 2021 POLAR
1.5VORTEX.
1.6 Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
1.7the meanings given.
1.8(b) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission.
1.9(c) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce.
1.10(d) "Cooperative association" means a cooperative association organized under Minnesota
1.11Statutes, chapter 308A, that sells natural gas to retail customers in Minnesota.
1.12(e) "Critical period" means the period beginning February 12, 2021, and ending February
1.1317, 2021.
1.14(f) "District heating system" means a nonprofit district heating system organized
under
1.15Minnesota Statutes, chapter 317A, that provides thermal energy in the form of steam
or hot
1.16water generated from natural gas to residential retail customers.
1.17(g) "Eligible low-income household" means a Minnesota residential household that
1.18consumed natural gas for space heating during the critical period and, as determined
by the
1.19utility providing natural gas service to the household:
1.20(1) received federal heating assistance under LIHEAP between October 1, 2019, and
1.21September 30, 2021;
1.22(2) participated in a payment agreement with the utility under Minnesota Statutes,
section
1.23216B.096, 216B.097, or 216B.098, at any time since March 2020; or
1.24(3) has missed two or more utility bill payments or submitted two or more partial
utility
1.25bill payments since October 2020.
1.26(h) "LIHEAP" means the low-income home energy assistance program under United
1.27States Code, title 42, sections 8621 to 8630, and Minnesota Statutes, section 216C.02,
1.28subdivision 1.
1.29(i) "Municipal utility" means a nonprofit utility established under Minnesota Statutes,
1.30chapter 412, that (1) is owned by the city to which it provides service, and (2) sells
natural
1.31gas to retail customers in Minnesota.
2.1(j) "Public utility" means a public utility, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section
2.2216B.02, subdivision 4, that sells natural gas to retail customers in Minnesota.
2.3(k) "Utility" means:
2.4(1) a municipal utility;
2.5(2) a public utility, including a public utility that is exempt from the provisions
of
2.6Minnesota Statutes, chapter 216B;
2.7(3) a cooperative association organized under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 308A; or
2.8(4) a district heating system.
2.9 Subd. 2. Assistance program. (a) The commissioner of commerce must, in consultation
2.10with utilities:
2.11(1) develop and implement a program in which each public utility, upon approval by
2.12the commission of a true-up mechanism for the cost of natural gas purchased by the
public
2.13utility during the critical period, and each municipal utility, cooperative association,
and
2.14district heating system, provides bill credits to eligible low-income households to
defray a
2.15portion of the elevated costs the household paid for natural gas the household consumed
2.16during the critical period; and
2.17(2) develop a methodology, based on utility purchasing data, utility consumption data,
2.18and natural gas pricing information, to estimate the increase in natural gas bills
of eligible
2.19low-income households during the critical period.
2.20(b) Each utility requesting assistance under this section must use the methodology
2.21developed under paragraph (a), clause (2), to calculate the bill credit amount for
each eligible
2.22low-income household.
2.23(c) The commissioner must, utilizing data presented in Public Utilities Commission
2.24Docket No. 21-135 and data collected from utilities estimating the number of eligible
2.25low-income households the utility serves:
2.26(1) allocate the appropriation in section 4 among public and municipal utilities,
2.27cooperative associations, and district heating systems;
2.28(2) allocate assistance to individual municipal utilities, cooperative associations,
and
2.29district heating systems; and
2.30(3) determine the amount of bill credits that eligible low-income households served
by
2.31municipal utilities, cooperative associations, and district heating systems receive
under this
2.32section and the timing, process, notice, and mechanisms utilities must use to issue
the credits.
3.1(d) The commission must, by order, utilizing the data presented in Public Utilities
3.2Commission Docket No. 21-135, the commissioner's allocation of the appropriation in
3.3section 4 to public utilities, criteria the commission deems necessary to target relief,
and
3.4filings the commission requests from individual public utilities, determine the amount
of
3.5bill credits eligible low-income households served by public utilities receive under
this
3.6section.
3.7(e) A utility must comply with a request from the commissioner or the commission for
3.8any additional data necessary to carry out the duties of this section.
3.9(f) A bill credit issued under this section must not exceed a reasonable estimate
made
3.10using a methodology approved by the commissioner or as determined by the commission,
3.11as applicable, and may be apportioned to an eligible low-income household over a period
3.12of up to 12 months, or longer if deemed appropriate by the commission or the commissioner.
3.13(g) The commissioner and the commission may proportionately reduce the amount of
3.14a bill credit a utility provides to a customer under this section if the aggregated
calculated
3.15amount for bill credits exceeds available funds.
3.16(h) The commission must, by order, determine the aggregate amount of bill credits
each
3.17public utility must provide to eligible low-income households and must provide a copy
of
3.18the order to the commissioner. Upon receipt of the order, the commissioner shall transfer
3.19from the appropriation made in section 4, paragraph (b), the aggregate amount of funds
3.20available for bill credits, as determined by the commission, to the applicable public
utility.
3.21 Subd. 3. Eligible expenditure. The commissioner may make expenditures under this
3.22section to:
3.23(1) provide funds to utilities to issue bill credits to eligible low-income households;
3.24(2) reimburse the Department of Commerce for the reasonable costs incurred to administer
3.25this section; and
3.26(3) reimburse the commission for the reasonable costs incurred to administer this
section.
3.27EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment."
3.28Page 3, line 2, before "
$15,000,000" insert "
(a)"
3.29Page 3, after line 6, insert:
3.30"
(b) $100,000,000 in fiscal year 2021 is appropriated from the general fund to the
3.31commissioner of commerce for transfer to utilities to fund bill credits to low-income
3.32households in Minnesota that consumed natural gas during the spike in natural gas
prices
4.1between February 12, 2021, and February 17, 2021, as described in section 2. This
is a
4.2onetime appropriation. Any unexpended funds at the end of the biennium cancel to the
4.3general fund. Any federal funds received by the state that are intended to provide
relief from
4.4the natural gas price spike experienced during the critical period must be deposited
in the
4.5general fund. To the extent that the appropriation under this paragraph meets the
relevant
4.6spending requirements of these federal funds, the appropriation is reduced by the
amount
4.7of the federal funds."
4.8Renumber the sections in sequence
4.9The motion prevailed. #did not prevail. So the amendment to the amendment was #not
4.10adopted.