For Immediate Release

June 15, 2006

Contact:
Ken Bradley, Senior Policy Associate
651.726.7568 (office), 651.238.5376 (cell), bradley@fresh-energy.org

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Rejects Own Staff’s Human Rights Recommendations
“The Public Utilities Commission failed Minnesotans by turning a blind eye to the human rights impacts of our hydropower,” says Fresh Energy, the Upper Midwest and Southern Canada’s leading energy organization.

(St. Paul, MN...) In a stunning move today, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rejected the recommendations of its own staff by refusing to require Xcel Energy to monitor and report on the human rights impacts of the hydropower it purchases from Manitoba, Canada. The Public Utilities Commission’s staff recommended a framework and mechanisms for monitoring the efficacy of the Northern Flood Agreement, signed by the Province of Manitoba, the Government of Canada, and five impacted Cree Nations in 1977. 

The Commission rejected the recommendations in a 3-0 vote.  Commissioners Kenneth Nickolai and Thomas Pugh were not present. 

“Fresh Energy is very concerned about how this decision will impact Minnesota's renewable energy economy,” said Ken Bradley, Fresh Energy Senior Policy Associate.  “The Public Utilities Commission has less restrictions on Canadian hydropower than on Minnesota’s own renewable energy generation.”  

In 2002, the Commission ordered Xcel Energy to monitor and report on the progress and implementation of the Northern Flood Agreement in exchange for not holding hearings on the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the Agreement. 

Fresh Energy and the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center have identified a possible framework for the monitoring and reporting. They include:

• Eighteen different indicators based on the Northern Flood Agreement provisions
• Such a process should be relevant, reliable, outcome based, easy to understand, based on accessible data
• A frequency needed to be established for such monitoring and reporting and recommended every two years as part of Xcel Energy’s resource plan

The recommended mechanisms available for monitoring and reporting include:

• Statistics Canada, Manitoba Bureau of Statistics, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, and Health Canada
• Data from indigenous nations and local government
• Data provided by Manitoba Hydro

“It is distressing to us and should be to Minnesotans and Manitobans that Xcel Energy has received a free pass from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission with regard to monitoring and reporting the environmental and social impacts of hydropower generation,” Bradley continued.  “The Commissioners’ rejection of their own staff’s recommendations will have negative consequences for both Canadian indigenous communities and Minnesota renewable energy developers.”

- end -

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fresh Energy—formerly Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ME3)—is a nonprofit organization leading the transition to a clean energy system. One that supports the health of our economies, our people, and our environment while moving us toward energy independence. www.fresh-energy.org