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Legislative Energy Commission

Energy Future Framework


Minnesota Statutes 3.8852 requires the Legislative Energy Commission (LEC) to develop a planning strategy for a sustainable energy future, also known as the Energy Future Framework. The Framework must:

  • End Minnesota's contribution to greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels within the next few decades.
  • Establish goals and strategies to reach the state's renewable energy standards and prepare for the steps beyond reaching those standards.
  • Consider costs, job and economic development impacts, and opportunities created by new technologies for efficiency, storage, transmission, and renewable generation.
  • Be developed in consultation with the commissioner of commerce and other state agencies, utilities, environmental organizations, labor and industry, technical and scientific experts, and other stakeholders.

Read the entire statute here.

The LEC has taken the following steps toward developing the Energy Future Framework.

  • Received the study scoping (2013), which outlines recommendations for how to approach such a large and complicated question. The study scoping was conducted by Rocky Mountain Institute on behalf of the Department of Commerce.
  • Reached out to many Minnesota stakeholders and convened an intial core team to advise on the Framework's development. Core team members include representatives from business, manufacturing, environmental organizations, utilities, and state agencies. The team will be expanded as the project develops.
  • Submitted a proposal for funding to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Natural Resources (LCCMR) for a technical study of high levels of clean energy, in response to the LCCMR's 2015 RFP. The proposal was recommended for funding by the LCCMR, but the 2015 Legislature did not fund the project.