Since 2013, natural gas utilities in Minnesota have used the Gas Utility Infrastructure Cost (GUIC) rider at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC, or Commission) to recover costs associated with expensive pipeline replacements without the scrutiny and process that rate cases at the Commission typically require. The rider was originally created to allow gas utilities to quickly replace aging, leaky infrastructure at a time when upgrades were considered urgent. However, the landscape of natural gas use in Minnesota has changed since 2013, as legislators anticipated when they adopted the policy.
The law included a sunset provision intended to end the rider in 2023, but changes to the statute wrongly extended the life of the rider. Now, new legislation to remove the sunset entirely would make this cost-recovery mechanism permanent, putting Minnesotans on the hook for these costs indefinitely, increasing bills and making it harder for Minnesota to meet its climate targets — all at a time when Minnesotans’ gas bills are more expensive than ever.
Minnesotans cannot afford to have the legislature make this same mistake twice. Legislators must hear from people like you that requests to raise energy bills by our largest utilities require scrutiny and should go through the full review of a rate case at the PUC.
When investor-owned gas utilities seek to recover costs on projects like new pipelines, they typically request an increase at the PUC through a rate case. These legal proceedings at the Commission are very thorough, include ample opportunity for public and stakeholder engagement, and create space for settlements that enable the utility to make needed investments while allowing advocates and state agencies the opportunity to safeguard ratepayers. GUIC riders allow gas utilities to circumvent much of the scrutiny and review that occurs in a rate case, leading to higher bills for Minnesotans without much opportunity for oversight, debate, and protection.
Minnesotans are already making hard choices in the face of rising costs. It’s important that our utilities are using ratepayer money responsibly. Rate cases at the PUC are the appropriate venue for evaluating major infrastructure spending, as they ensure that utilities fully justify the costs they incur and propose, while allowing regulators the time, transparency, and detailed record needed to ensure smart investments are made for Minnesotans over the near- and long-term.
The GUIC rider has allowed natural gas utilities in Minnesota to recover costs for thousands of miles of replacement pipelines and has served its purpose for Minnesotans. It is time to return decisions about pipeline investments to the full scrutiny of the rate case process.
Can you send a message to your legislators today, urging them to vote NO on repealing the sunset provision?