The moment we have been waiting for is now within sight and you have an opportunity to add your voice to the record!

The Minneapolis City Council has set a public hearing on both utility franchise agreements and the clean energy Partnership MOUs for both Xcel and Centerpoint October 6^th at 1:30 PM during the regular meeting time of the Health, Environment and Community Engagement committee in the city council chamber at 350 S 5^th Street room #317. Read the city's press release by clicking here. 

We invite you to come speak with your own unique perspective. We expect the time allotted to be 3 minutes or 2 minutes per speaker. You can also contact Committee Chair Cam Gordon with questions about submitting a comment if you are unable to attend.    

Our basic message template is as follows:

1. It's great to see the City and utilities (Xcel and CenterPoint) coming together to create this first-in-the-nation Clean Energy Partnership.  We are hopeful that this will allow the City to meet its ambitious energy and climate goals and vision.

2. We support franchise agreements that are as short of length as possible. 

3. The Council should pass the Partnership when it comes to a full vote, and the utilities should sign on. 

 

4. In order to be effective, the Partnership needs active participation from energy stakeholders and experts who are not connected to the City or the utilities.  We support a strong, empowered, and diverse Energy Vision Advisory Committee. 

 

5. The community will be paying close attention to this Partnership, and holding both the City and the utilities accountable for reaching their stated goals.  If it doesn't look like the Partnership is achieving these goals, the community will advocate for exploring other options.

To learn more about why the Partnership is fundamentally important you can read this Twin Cities Daily Planet Article or this fantastic article by John Farrell in Renewable Energy World. 

To read more on why the Energy Vision Advisory Committee is so essential to the Partnership, take a look at our South Side Pride Letter To the Editor.

There are some interesting quotes on both the franchise agreement length and on the Partnership from City Council members in our blogpost on the July 7th hearing.

OUR ONLINE PETITION