Minnesota's 2040 carbon-free energy bill poised for Walz's signature

Minnesota will require its electricity to be carbon-free by the year 2040, the state's most ambitious clean energy standard ever, under legislation that state lawmakers were close to sending to Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday.

The state Senate, debating the measure Thursday night, was expected to pass the requirement that utilities meet escalating carbon cuts over the next 17 years. The House passed the bill last week, meaning it now heads to Walz, who has vowed to sign it.

The new standard would push utilities in Minnesota to ditch coal, natural gas and any other energy sources that release planet-warming gases a decade earlier than the state's two largest retail utilities, Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power, have planned.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesotas-2040-carbon-free-energy-bill-poised-for-walzs-signature/600248739/