Today, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced that $5.21 million in grants has been awarded to local governments contending with the impacts of the closure of large power plants. These grants were made possible by the work of Flaherty & Hood’s legislative advocacy on behalf of the Coalition of Utility Cities (CUC).
Flaherty & Hood Senior Attorney/Lobbyist Shane Zahrt helped create the CET Grant program in 2020 to support the work of CUC, a client of the firm. In 2023, Zahrt worked with the Coalition and state policymakers to invest $10 million in additional funding into the program, making today’s grants possible.
CUC is an organization of seven cities that host, or have hosted, the state’s largest coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. The transition to cleaner energy sources will have widespread benefits, but also confronts these communities with the prospect of losing 30-70% of their local property tax base and leaving hundreds of high-skilled workers without jobs.
The grants awarded today through the CET Grant program will support these communities as they seek to diversify their tax base to blunt the impacts of plant retirement and protect local property taxpayers from bearing the brunt.
As a result of Flaherty & Hood’s efforts for the CUC, Minnesota has been recognized nationwide as a leader in supporting local governments and workers who face the prospect of lost property tax base and economic opportunity when investor-owned power plants retire.
