Energy Utility Franchise Agreements

The City of Minneapolis has utility franchise agreements with Xcel Energy for electricity and CenterPoint Energy for natural gas. These agreements allow the utilities to use public property, such as boulevards and alleys to provide service. They were signed in the early 1990s, and both expire at the end of 2014. The City is in the early stages of preparing to negotiate new franchise agreements. One of the steps in this process is the Energy Pathways Report that the Council has authorized and that will be completed in February 2014. This alternatives analysis will outline the various avenues the City could take to achieve the energy goals outlined in the City’s Climate Action Plan.

A group of residents has advocated for placing a referendum on the November general elections ballot authorizing the City to establish municipal utilities. A public hearing was held on this issue on August 1 to hear testimony from the utilities, as well as citizens both for and against the referendum. Since that time, both CenterPoint and Xcel have had discussions with the City regarding ways of working together to meet the City’s energy goals. Given these discussions, the resolution for a ballot referendum on municipalization will not be introduced at the Committee of the Whole on August 15.