12-03-2025
Utilities Commissioners call Rep. Fischbach meeting venue 'unacceptable'
Mar. 12----
Commissioners Bruce DeBlieck and Carol Laumer, along with General Manager Jeron Smith, on Monday provided an overview of the
legislative rally, which took place Feb. 24-26 in Washington, D.C.
They stated their meetings with U.S. Sen.
and U.S. Sen.
Tina Smith
went well, but the venue for their meeting with U.S. Rep.
was "unacceptable."
"(Smith and Klobuchar) are very well-versed on their issues, and they're very supportive of what (the
) and (
) are doing," DeBlieck said.
"Fischbach's meeting was in front of the elevator in the office building, which was a very poor place to meet — in the hallway," DeBlieck added. "I've never been out there where we had to meet with our representative in the hallway — with two months' advance notice that we're going to be there and they don't have a meeting room for 40 to 50 people to meet in."
DeBlieck and Laumer noted that constituents must remain vigilant in making their voices heard regarding the issues that affect them. DeBlieck commented that what happens in Washington, D.C., affects Minnesotans.
"It's in such a state of turmoil and we don't know, you know, where the bull's eye is going to be, per se, that a lot of this, we just really have to keep on top of," Laumer said, noting that elected officials need to be reminded of the issues at the forefront for municipal utilities.
The West Central Tribune reached out to the representative and senators for comment. Fischbach and Klobuchar did not respond by the deadline for this story.
"It was great to meet with representatives from Minnesota's municipal utilities. Their work is essential in ensuring reliable, affordable power for communities across our state, especially in rural areas," Tina Smith said in a statement. "Republicans have a history of pushing for policies that could raise energy costs and make it more difficult for these locally owned utilities to serve their communities. I'll be right alongside them in the fight to ensure they have the tools they need to serve Minnesotans."
Some of the main issues the delegation from Minnesota spoke about during the rally included protecting the tax-exempt status of public utilities, protecting the
from sequestration and protecting the
Sequestration is the term for automatic cancellation of certain federal spending.
"One of the biggest issues was the talk about the tax-exempt protections," DeBlieck said. "Right now, we are a tax-exempt organization. There are some people that think they should take all the tax-exempt organizations and start taxing them and what that would do, that would do with our rates and everything else."
He noted that Willmar Municipal Utilities already pays a "pretty good premium" to the city, and wondered if that would be taxable.
Willmar Municipal Utilities makes a payment in lieu of taxes to the city each year.
A talking points memo from Missouri River Energy Services — which provides wholesale power and a range of energy services to its member electric providers — notes that public utilities already pay federal taxes on unrelated business income, as well as other forms of taxes. It notes that additional taxing of nonprofits would increase costs and "likely reduce the services they can offer for the greater good."
The memo also notes that further taxing of nonprofits will likely be passed on to ratepayers, indirectly increasing their taxes through higher utility bills.
Regarding the Build America Bonds, DeBlieck explained that some of the partnering utilities within Missouri River Energy Services had invested in projects that were funded by Build America Bonds, but that financing has now "evaporated."
"They are sitting on projects that they did — and no financing for funding — and the utilities have to come up and figure out how to pay for it," DeBlieck said.
In 2010, Missouri River Energy Services issued Build America Bonds through the
relying on the government's promise to pay; that promise has now been breached, according to the talking points memo.
If the Department of Treasury eliminates payments on the Build America Bonds completely, it will cost the Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency $2.2 million per year — or $50 million over the remaining term of the bonds — according to the memo.
Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency is a municipal corporation and political subdivision of the state of Minnesota. It finances the construction and acquisition of the generation and transmission facilities for members of Missouri River Energy Services.
In regards to Missouri River Energy Services, protecting the Federal Power Program means protecting the hydropower generated from the Missouri River from being privatized.
"There's always been a push to try and sell those off for private entities," DeBlieck commented. "Right now, they have laid off a number of people in (the
) out there."
He explained that it is kind of at a crossroads as to whether they will have enough staff for WAPA to operate, and he noted that despite maintaining low rates, hydropower also makes a lot of money for the federal government. If it became privatized, rates could double, he added.
Laumer added that all the customers who get their electricity through WAPA have already paid for all the assets.
According to the talking points memo, Missouri River Energy Services and WAPA's other customers cover all the costs of the federal power system, including interest, and there is no taxpayer subsidy.
"This system of cost-based rates has been in place for 50 years under the Eastern Pick-Sloan and related agreements," the memo states, noting that Missouri River Energy Services and WAPA customers directly fund numerous investments.
Between 2001 and 2023, WAPA customers in the Eastern Pick-Sloan region advanced $793 million in investments, with Missouri River Energy Services advancing $209 million of the total amount.
"Congress was looking at budget reconciliation," noted Jeron Smith. " ... Anytime they looked at public utilities, it was either increasing taxes or privatizing these federal hydrogeneration plans, and neither one of those makes sense for us as a utility, because it's just going to increase our cost of service, and then that will increase the cost on the U.S. citizens."
