The Republican Legislature likes playing culture war because it keeps them from having to address really hard issues that don’t mobilize the voter base, like the rural/municipal electric war. But when they get done bullying transgender kids and other minorities, legislators will have to take up these bills addressing the conflict between rural electric cooperatives and the municipal utilities that have unilateral authority to annex the coops’ most lucrative service areas:
The only bill voted on so far is the easiest one, Senate Bill 83, which requires electric utilities serving areas in or next to municipalities who also provide electricity to hold annual springtime meetings to review their electrical systems, “including any existing facilities and planned facilities or improvements in service areas within and adjacent to the municipality.” The rural electrics showed up at Senate Commerce and Energy on January 30 and said they’re cool with that, and SB 83 passed committee 6–0 and full Senate 27–5.
The only other measure on this topic scheduled for hearing so far is House Bill 1262, sponsored by Representative David Anderson (R-16/Hudson) and Senator Jack Kolbeck (R-13/Sioux Falls). HB 1262 requires an annexing municipality to invite affected electric utilities to a meeting to discuss the annexation. Annexing munis would have to give affected electric providers 20 days heads up of first reading of an annexation resolution and provide written notice within one year of annexation of the muni’s intent to take over electrical service. Munis would have to pass separate resolutions to annex and to provide electrical service in annexed areas. Munis and coops who can’t come to an agreement on compensation under the statutory formula would take their disagreement to circuit court instead of the Public Utilities Commission.
Senator VJ Smith (R-7/Brookings) brings Senate Bill 184, which repeats much of HB 1262 but, significantly, repeals the statutory formula for what munis must pay the rural electrics for annexed service territory.
Representative Tim Reed (R-7/Brookings), with the backing of two of Watertown’s three legislators, Representative Hugh Bartels (R-5/Watertown) and Senator Lee Schoenbeck (R-5/Lake Kampeska), offer House Bill 1180, which would allow a municipality that annexes territory but allows a rural electric cooperative to continue providing electricity there to set minimum electrical infrastructure standards, no more stringent than those imposed in the rest of the municipality, which the coop would have to meet within two years.
Rep. Reed and Senator Schoenbeck also lead House Bill 1199, which would require annexing municipalities to send the resolution of intent to annex and notice of the public hearing on annexation by certified mail to any electric utility serving the area targeted for annexation.
If all else fails, Representative Tom Brunner (R-29/Nisland) has popped House Bill 1229 into the hopper as a hoghouse carcass, just waiting for legislators to stick their necks out with new ideas. Senator Smith also has hoghouse carcass SB 175 slugged to “accommodate legislation related to meetings and records of rural electric cooperatives.”
These bills improve information and notification, but no one in Pierre appears to be gunning to weaken municipalities’ annexation powers or empower rural electric cooperatives to stop annexation.
The real fight here is Republican interests that wish to monopolize public utility service for a few quiet deep pockets.
Witness the evtraprdinary utility headquarters for Rapid Valley Elec Coop, the water service out there, and “EXCELL’s” BH Energy. The public pays the freight.
CEO salaries at BHE are near $1 million and City RC is scoping a new water treatment plant obviously looking at front range growth that was estimated 300 K pop by 2030, and new to the scene water developers in conjunction with SDSMT professors (finally, likely getting that Domestic use is more important than mining-and monopolized potable water in the northern hills owned lock stock and barrel by HOMESTAKE successors) who are again studying piping Missouri River treated water to RC, first conceptualized by Janklow to do trans-basins diversions of SD/Indian unappropriated water in high volume to WY in coal slurry pipelines. A lot like Koch bastards trying to pipe tar sands slurry from Alberta to their refineries on the Gulf for world oil export.