Repeal of nuclear ban passes MN House committee, again

Groundhog Day was officially last week, but it continues at the state capitol, day after day, as the House of Representatives conducts its “do-over” session.

You will recall that back on January 21, HF 9 passed out of the House Energy committee on a unanimous, all-Republican vote.

The bill repeals the state’s ban on the construction of new nuclear power plants, raises the size limits on hydroelectric power plants, and makes other changes to state energy policy.

Its chief author is Rep. Chris Swedzinski (R-Ghent), chair of the House Energy committee. Given its single-digit bill number, the bill represents one of the top priorities for the majority Republican caucus this year.

This time, the bill’s hearing lasted more than two hours, spilling over the allotted time slot, and having to reconvene in the late afternoon to finish its business. (Part 1 of the hearing video is here. Part 2 is here.)

But the outcome was unchanged, the only difference being that the Democrats bothered to show up yesterday. The bill passed and was sent to the Taxes committee, on a party-line 8-7 vote.

HF 9’s Senate companion bill is SF 572, authored by Sen. Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton), the Republican Lead on the Senate Energy committee.

Speaking of the Senate Energy committee, it’s gone dormant since our last report on February 5. Now under Democratic leadership (after a brief power-sharing period), the committee took this week off and is not scheduled to meet again until Monday, February 17. An utterly useless “agency overview” meeting is scheduled for that day.

Having served time on both sides of the “agency overview” committee hearing, I can attest that it’s a waste of time and resources for all involved. No future meetings of the Senate Energy committee have been scheduled.

The House Energy committee will next meet on Wednesday, February 13, to hear a bill on AI data centers.