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Rural/Muni Electric War Committee Considers Nine Draft Bills on Wednesday

In this corner, the Rural Rottweiler, Willie Wiredhand!
In this corner, the Rural Electrics’ Golden Boy, hard-charging, high-charging Willie Wiredhand!

Who needs cage-fighting when you can attend, for free, the biggest, bloodiest brawl in South Dakota: the third big meeting of the Electric Services in an Annexed Area Committee on Wednesday, November 6, in Pierre!

Round 3 of the battle royale between South Dakota’s twin towers of power, the rural electric cooperatives and the municipal electrical utilities, features nine—count ’em, nine!—big draft bills:

And in this corner... dang, the South Dakota Municipal Electric Association doesn't have a cool mascot, so here's Matt McCaulley, their lobbyist.
And in this corner… dang, the South Dakota Municipal Electric Association doesn’t appear have a cool mascot, so here’s Matt McCaulley, their hard-charging and high-charging lobbyist.

Drafts A through D seem relatively innocuous, providing for public meetings and notice to rural electrics of muni annexations but not changing the munis’ now contested authority to seize power-provision territory.

Draft E is fighting words, as it allows the munis to seize land owned by local economic development boards without compensating the rural electrics. Expect primary challenges from rural electric backers against any legislator who votes for that idea.

Draft F requires munis and rurals to negotiate, then allows them to petition the PUC to intervene and decide who gets what.

Draft G looks like a bone for the rurals, extending the period during which annexing munis must compensate the rurals for unoccupied, unequipped territory from eleven to twenty years.

Draft H is the flip side of Draft E, taking away the munis’ right to seize rural electric territory, customers, and equipment in annexed areas. Again, vote for that one, Senator Youngberg, and Russ Olson will come back and primary you!

Draft I requires negotiation and arbitration. The rurals and munis each pick an arbitrator, and those two pick a third to decide who gets to juice the contested neighborhood. Draft I also sneaks in a provision saying the munis don’t have to compensate the rurals for empty ground they annex from the rurals’ service area until and unless someone builds in that area.

It’s a fight so good Electric War Chairman Alan Solano put off his resignation until the end of November, just to make sure he could have the best seat in the house for this epic bout!

Wednesday, 10 a.m., Capitol Room 414—be there for the wonkiest whackingfest in South Dakota!

3 Comments

  1. Porter Lansing

    If Mayor Lumberjack could come up with a cool mascot like Golden Boy, he might have a shot at getting rid of the quill. As it is, he’s toast.

  2. Certain Inflatable Recreational Devices

    McCauley looks like a leprechaun. I’m sure a leprechaun would trounce him in a debate.

    His likeness not as ludicrous as that of Al Novstrup, but it evokes no more confidence in his attention to detail than does a stock photo of Alien Al.

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