Dear Friends,
Center of the American Experiment recently put out a report, “Energy Policy in Minnesota: The High Cost of Failure” that concluded “Minnesota’s aspirational energy policy is a grand exercise in virtue signaling that does little to reduce either conventional pollution or greenhouse gas emissions.” Minnesota’s present energy policy goals were largely established through the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 (NGEA).
Below, I will summarize one of the main points of the study, which relates to the costs to consumers (you and I). However, I highly recommend reading the entire report yourself. There is a lot to learn about how “good” intentions by politicians don’t always lead to worthwhile and cost-effective results.
Prior to Minnesota's alternative energy plan, our electricity rates were 18% lower than the national average. After passing the alternative energy mandate, our electricity costs in 2017 are slightly above the national average. As a result, Minnesota has lost its competitive edge after spending an estimated $10 billion or more on alternative energy mandates.
Due to our country’s massive debt, I think we have become numb to how much money $10 billion really is. To put this into perspective, $10 billion is 10 Vikings stadiums. Spending such a large amount of money and not yielding substantial results is not sustainable for our state. I applaud the Center of the American Experiment for their work and reporting on this important subject.
Click here to read the full report.
Sincerely,
Glenn