MMUA Blogs

I visited a member utility Sept. 15 -- the first time since February. The year started well enough, with a productive swing through northwest Minnesota and then time with people in February, at MMUA meeting and training events. Then came March. And you know that story all too well. Who... Read more

Municipal utilities have long sought to provide reliable service at a reasonable rate.   At one time it may have been enough.    It isn’t now.   Simple numbers add up to trouble in many places. About 20 percent of Minnesota’s municipal... Read more

The MMUA office is moving. While certainly an inconvenience, it also presents an opportunity to go through drawers and files to see what should be kept and what ought to be thrown away. Rummaging through the office, it is apparent that, in many cases, what seemed crucially important at one... Read more

A sense of place. ­ That is one thing which each of the 124 Minnesota cities operating a municipal electric utility has in common. There is something unique about each one. It’s not surprising. When your bedrock tenet is local control, it stands to reason that your city... Read more

You might hope that as both are government—the Minnesota Division of Energy Resources (DER) and municipal electric utilities—that there would be comity—some appreciation for the role each plays in the provision of electric service in the state.   Unfortunately,... Read more

After a 20-year Air Force career, Chris Grindland returned to Peterson. He bought his childhood home from his parents, and continued with the work of raising his family. With a population of 198, the city needs people to get involved, and Grindland was willing. He ran for the city council... Read more

Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Nomination Hearing for Scott Pruitt, EPA (Jan. 18)   First, an update on possible nomination votes:   --Friday, Inauguration Day, the Senate will be in session for afternoon votes; they are expected to vote on—and... Read more

You can often look at an electric generating project and peg its age by what needs it was designed to meet and the political sensitivities (if any) at the time it was built. Today, for example, there are several proposed U.S.-Canada transmission projects currently gaining regulatory... Read more

Congress is back, but it's a very different world. And everyone is scrambling, for different reasons. Lame duck? Maybe the lamest. Get anything accomplished? Hardly. No need to, not now. TPP gonna pass, the president's Trans-Pacific Partnership landmark trade initiative,... Read more

This month’s Resource newsletter carries an article on new mercury limits for wastewater discharges in the Lake Superior basin. The limits result from the Binational Program to Restore and Protect the Lake Superior basin, which was signed in 1991. The expense of meeting this... Read more

I recently received two pieces of mail that gave me pause as a resident of an MMUA-member city. They also made me consider why it is increasingly difficult for different people to solve complex problems, and what I could possibly do about it. One letter, dated May 4, came from a Minnesota... Read more

MMUA wouldn’t be much without its members. That point was driven home again Saturday, April 2, at the national Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo, held at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. Sure, Shakopee Public Utilities (SPU) and MMUA were hosts of this American Public Power Association... Read more

MMUA and Shakopee Public Utilities salute the American lineworker . Can anybody tell me who the guy pictured here is? If you can, there is a major award (still to be determined) for you. You can watch lineworkers in action Saturday, April 2 at the APPA Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo.... Read more

Something curious about the reporting in the Star Tribune Sunday, March 20 on a large new wind ‘farm’ and, in a larger article, “Nuclear sticker shock” for potential upgrades at the Prairie Island nuclear facility. The wind development story mentioned the amount of... Read more

In a phenomenon that reminds me of a modern youth sports ‘season,’ the political season is well upon us (did it ever really end?). Municipal utilities often seek to keep ‘politics’ out of the business--an ironic twist for utilities born of politics. The effort is... Read more

I was recently surprised when I saw a small telco in Minnesota invoke the rural exemption. This is a set of rules that was created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In those days the rural telephone industry had an effective presence in Congress and this was added to that legislation as a... Read more

Municipal utilities and businesses that support them have a long and often mutually-beneficial relationship. Back in the mists of time, engine and generator manufacturers actually promoted municipal utilities. The sales pitch was that the city would get lower rates, more reliable service,... Read more

The more I learn and observe, the more I am convinced that issues come and go but human nature stays the same. This thought follows the MMUA Technical and Operations (T&O) Conference, held earlier this week in St. Cloud. While MMUA does its best to present a program that will be of... Read more

The US House of Representatives just passed S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act. Passage came under the House suspension calendar, which needs a two-thirds vote from Members, so only those bills with broad support get on the calendar. Today's STB reform bill was no... Read more

Had a chance this week to visit the Granite Falls Municipal Utilities. Driving home, I had a few thoughts. One was thankfulness for work that allows me to visit utilities like this and with the people who make them go. If you ever get a chance to visit a municipal power plant, especially a... Read more