The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission upheld its earlier approval of two electric vehicle-related pilot programs proposed by Xcel Energy Inc. unit Northern States Power Co. - Minnesota, denying a petition for reconsideration filed by several oil and manufacturing groups.
Under the pilot programs, which were proposed in October 2018, Xcel Energy would install and own about 700 electric vehicle charging ports for fleet operators and another 350 ports for public charging stations or community mobility hubs.
In an Aug. 6 filing, the five petitioners — Marathon Petroleum Company LP, Covia Holdings Corp., Flint Hills Resources LLC's Pine Bend unit, Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc. and USG Interiors Inc., which are some of Xcel Energy's largest industrial consumers — sought to overturn what they referred to as an "unlawful" July 17 order through which the Minnesota PUC approved Xcel Energy's pilots with modifications and allowed for deferred accounting for certain pilot expenses.
Part of the industrial consumers' argument centered on their assertion that current, applicable law "does not provide express or implied authority for the commission to regulate behind-the-meter EV charging infrastructure." They also claimed that the order was not in the public interest.
In rejecting the petition for reconsideration, the commissioners called the industrial consumers' reasoning "incorrect" and "unpersuasive" and noted that their regulatory power is "expressly and intentionally comprehensive." They also found that the five petitioners had not raised new issues or evidence and failed to highlight any errors or ambiguities in the initial order.
The commission also denied the group's assertion that if utilities were authorized to own electric vehicle charging stations, private ownership would be prohibited.
"The commission does not give great weight to the arguments ... that the pilots would doom the economics of privately financed, owned, and/or operated electric-vehicle charging facilities," the order said. (Minnesota PUC docket 18-643)
