MEEA Policy Insider - July 2025

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The MEEA Policy Insider summarizes the latest state and federal policy activity and provides new resources to aid members in their outreach, education and advocacy initiatives.

MEEA also hosts bi-monthly Policy Committee meetings open to all members. Reach out to Maddie Wazowicz to join. In addition to the Policy Committee, MEEA staff and board members facilitate the following committees: Building Policy, Workforce, Membership, DEI, Conference Advisory, Inspiring Efficiency Awards and Utility Research and Development. Committees are open to all MEEA members. Members can learn more and join using this form.

In this issue: 

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Legislative

Session adjourned on May 31, after several late nights in the final days. A short veto session is scheduled for six days in October. Legislators passed 432 bills this session but failed to pass the energy omnibus, SB 2473/HB 3779 (Sen. Cunningham/Rep. Williams), also known as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA). Throughout session, stakeholders and legislators engaged in a series of working group negotiations around an energy omnibus bill with CRGA serving as the starting point for many stakeholders. It may be possible for legislators to take up the bill in veto session in the fall, but it’s not clear yet whether there would be an appetite to address energy during the short veto session. 

The other energy bills MEEA tracked this session, including HB 1612 (Appliance Standards Act), HB 3525 (Clean & Healthy Buildings Act aimed at reducing gas emissions) and HB 3650 (a bill to create a statewide energy navigator program) all failed to pass as well. The building energy codes bills MEEA tracked this session, including HB 3312 (Utility Data Access Act) also failed to pass. Given that this was the first year of the two-year session, it is possible that some of these bills can return either this year in potential veto sessions or next year's session.

Regulatory

The Energy Efficiency Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) continued meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Technical Reference Manual (TRM) this month. Discussions around issue 3, concerning the implications for EE at sites with on-site generation, are ongoing and comments can be submitted to the SAG facilitator, Celia Johnson, at celia@celiajohnsonconsulting.com until August 8. 

Proposed changes include adding solar as an energy efficiency measure and revisiting electric vehicles as an efficiency measure among other changes. MEEA submitted comments on the solar as energy efficiency issue. The SAG was not able to reach consensus on the proposed solar measures, so the solar measures will not be added to the draft TRM. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the draft and object to these measures not being included. If one or more stakeholders follow through with a formal objection it is possible the issue proceeds to litigation. You can view notes and agendas from recent SAG meetings here. 

Future of Gas proceedings remain ongoing. Since launching Phase 2B, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has been considering commissioning a pathways study after receiving feedback from stakeholders participating in the Decarbonization Pathways Working Group. The working group met on June 25 to discuss the Commission’s updated draft proposal based on the comments received. The Commission is expected to release a request for proposals for a consultant to conduct a pathways study shortly. Meanwhile, the Pilots Working Group submitted its list of selected pilots to Commission staff who reported the list to the Commissioners in July. Working group members have until August 11 to submit final comments on the pilots. Meeting materials for past Phase 2A workshops can be found here but Phase 2B working group meeting materials are not yet posted.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Illinois or to get more involved, contact Kit White. 

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Executive

Governor Braun has ordered the creation of a task force to plan for growing energy demand in the state. The task force will include seven executive branch officers or their representatives:

  • Commerce Secretary David Adams
  • Office of Energy Development Executive Director Jon Ford
  • Finance Authority Public Finance Director Dan Huge
  • Utility Regulatory Commission Chair Jim Huston
  • Energy and Natural Resources Secretary Suzanne Jaworowksi
  • Department of Natural Resources Director Alan Morrison
  • Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Clint Woods

The Governor’s order focuses on maintaining and growing generation and does not discuss demand-side management as one of its “all of the above” means of addressing demand growth. 

Legislative

The Indiana Legislature is adjourned. The Indiana Legislative Council has released assignments for Interim Study Committees. The Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee has been charged with reviewing annual reports from the IURC. 

Regulatory

The IURC is conducting a study of performance-based ratemaking, as required by 2023 legislation. The final report to the legislature is due on October 1.

The current integrated resource planning (IRP) processes in Indiana are:

  • AES Indiana - AES has begun its 2025 IRP process. Meeting materials and agendas will be uploaded at that link. The remaining meetings are September 10 and October 22. 

Updates from the Commission on integrated resource plans in Indiana will be posted to the IURC’s IRP page.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Indiana or to get more involved, contact Greg Ehrendreich. 

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Regulatory

At the start of the summer, Iowa’s four investor-owned utilities operating energy efficiency programs published their 2024 Annual Reports, summarizing savings achievements and spending metrics for the first year of their 2024-2028 portfolios. The Annual Reports can be found within the following dockets:

How to Get Involved

For more information about Iowa or to get more involved, contact Clara Stein. 

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Regulatory

On May 30, Evergy filed their first Annual Compliance Filing describing the results from their demand-side management programs in 2024. This report includes program expenditures, peak demand and energy savings impacts, avoided costs, estimated cost effectiveness, net economic benefits and a comparison to the commission authorized program budget to actual costs. 

Overall, in Evergy’s first year of KEEIA program operation, the utility:

  • Spent $8,939,375
  • Saved 11,604,612 kWh
  • Saved 31,705 kW incremental total peak demand

Review Evergy Kansas Metro and Evergy Kansas Central’s EM&V report for KEEIA Cycle I PY1 here, and view further details in the KCC Docket 25-EKCE-447-CPL.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Kansas or to get more involved, contact Clara Stein. 

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Kentucky Insider Header

Regulatory

The Commission issued its final order in Duke Energy Kentucky’s integrated resource planning in Case 2024-00197. The order finds that all substantive actions have been completed and closes the case. Duke’s next IRP will be filed on or before June 21, 2027. Per the Staff Report in the case, Duke should provide an evaluation of potential new DSM programs for its next IRP, to determine whether all cost-effective programs are being implemented.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Kentucky or to get more involved, contact Greg Ehrendreich. 

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Legislative

Michigan legislators have been working on the budget, but recently Senate Republicans released a suite of energy bills that would modify the clean energy standard and energy waste reduction program.

SB 322 (Hoitenga) would substantially amend the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act by scrapping much of the language that legislators passed in 2023. Notably, on the energy efficiency side, this bill would delete much of the new language around energy efficiency. It would set tiered incentives for shared savings (also in SB 324 below), with utilities eligible for incentives starting at 1% energy savings for electric utilities and 0.75% for gas utilities, with the incentives maxing out when electric utilities reach 1.5% in savings and gas utilities reaching 1%. The bill sets the standard for gas utilities at 0.75% and deletes the line that ramps up that standard to 0.875% starting in 2026. The bill also deletes the entire section on electrification, effectively removing the definition of efficient electrification and the stated ability to claim savings on electrification measures. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 21.

SB 324 (Hauck) would create shared savings mechanisms for electric utilities that have not otherwise capitalized those costs of the energy conservation measures. Utilities that reach 1-1.25% in energy savings would be eligible for a shared savings incentive of 25% of the net benefits validated as a result of the programs implemented. The mechanism increases to 27.5% for utilities that save between 1.25-1.5% and to 30% for those that save more than 1.5%. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 21.

SB 325 (Bellino) would also modify the standard for electric utilities back to 1% with an additional mention that the Michigan Public Service Commission can utilize shared savings mechanisms to reward energy savings above that. The bill also modifies definitions and requirements for future statewide energy savings potential studies and rules for integrated resource plans. The bill would modify the IRP process by removing affordability, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice as factors that the PSC could consider in its approval process. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 21. 

Separate from that package, HB 4486 (Frisbie) was introduced in the House. The bill would prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing a policy that prohibits the use of natural gas or the installation of natural gas infrastructure. This ‘ban on bans’ legislation has been introduced in prior sessions. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy on May 8.

Regulatory

Utilities have begun to file their new energy waste reduction (EWR) plans for 2026-2029. 

DTE’s initial filing (docket U-21681) has the utility saving 2% annually on the electric side and 1.05% on the gas side. DTE plans to increase annual spending throughout the four-year plan, starting with $261 million in 2026 and ending with $278 million in 2029. DTE is proposing to spend approximately 28% of its electric program spending and 41% of its gas spending on low-income programming. 

Upper Peninsula Power Company’s (UPPCO) initial filing (docket U-21684) has the utility saving 2% annually in 2026-27 and 2.17% annually in 2028-29. UPPCO plans to spend approximately $4 million annually in 2026-27 and $5 million per year in 2028-29, with 29% of that going toward low-income programming.

Alpena Power Company, Northern States Power (Xcel) and UMERC have informed the Commission that they have chosen to elect the independent energy waste reduction administrator, Efficiency United, as opposed to running in-house EWR programs. Consumers Energy (U-21680) and Indiana Michigan Power (U-21682) are set to file on or before August 1. Indiana Michigan Power formally requested an extension until October 1 as the utility plans to transition from utility-run programs to the Efficiency United program.

Governor Whitmer has appointed Shaquila Myers to the Michigan Public Service Commission. Myers most recently served as an advisor in the Whitmer administration and for former House Speaker Joe Tate. Myers replaces former Commissioner Alessandra Carreon, who now will serve as the chief climate officer at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Myers’ term is set to run through July 2031.

The MPSC is hosting its third technical conference on September 10 for the 2025 Michigan Potential Study on Energy Efficiency, Demand Response and Electrification. The process is scheduled to wrap up by September. More information on the potential study can be found here.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Michigan or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz. 

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Legislative

Legislators were supposed to wrap up session with a completed budget by May 19, but failed to meet that deadline. Legislators continued to work on compromise omnibus bills until a deal was struck. Governor Walz called legislators back for a one-day special session on June 9 where lawmakers passed all of the remaining omnibus bills, including the one focused on energy. 

The Energy Finance and Policy omnibus bill (SF 2) was renumbered and reintroduced given the special session. The bill is narrower than previous energy omnibus packages but does include more line items than the ‘lights-on’ bill previously introduced this session (HF 2442). 

The proposal includes funds for the Department of Commerce’s Energy Resources Division, including:

  • $602,000 to implement energy benchmarking
  • $530,000 to review grid-enhancing technologies plans
  • $378,000 for implementation of natural gas innovation plans
  • $300,000 to remediate vermiculite insulation from households

 

Additionally, $2.4 million is transferred from the general fund to the pre-weatherization account. The bill makes a few changes on the policy side, mostly tweaking definitions and adding a section on securitization. 

Legislators also passed a data center bill during special session. The legislation, HF 16/SF 19, notably institutes a fee structure for data centers to pay into a state account for low-income weatherization and energy conservation. Depending on the size of the data center, the fees would range from $2-5 million and would make the data center exempted from paying into utility energy efficiency programming. Additionally, the legislation would add the condition that a new data center receives a green building certification within three years of its construction to qualify for all eligible tax incentives.

Regulatory 

Minnesota Power and the Public Utilities Commission continue their work on public engagement around Minnesota Power’s 2025-2039 integrated resource plan, with additional stakeholder meetings scheduled for July. The plan includes maximizing energy efficiency and demand response as core tenets. Notably, the IRP includes adding 100 MW of new industrial demand response by 2028 and 2.9% in annual energy efficiency savings. The initial filing can be found here in docket 25-127. Comments on the IRP are due August 15, with reply comments due October 15. 

Xcel announced that the utility will host workshops to finalize its upcoming gas integrated resource plan, which is due to the Commission by July 1, 2026. The first workshop was held on May 7 and discussed Xcel’s approach to load forecasting and the next steps in developing the IRP. Presentations from that meeting can be found here. Interested parties can register for the next meeting on August 18 here. Additional meetings are tentatively set for November and February.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Minnesota or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz.

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Legislative

As anticipated, Governor Kehoe called the Missouri Legislature back for a special session in early June. Three bills were passed during this session, all of which were immediately signed by the Governor, covering emergency funding for disaster aid, sports stadium funding and an appropriations bill. Veto session is scheduled to begin September 10.

Regulatory

The passage of SB 4 during the recent legislative session is expected to induce several proceedings at the Public Service Commission this summer related to the new provisions in the law, which is set to take effect on August 28. Specifically, we expect there will be PSC workshops hosted around alternative residential customer rates based on household utility burden, and rulemaking process around changes to the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Missouri or to get more involved, contact Natalie Newman. 

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Regulatory

Lincoln Electric System (LES) is concluding their strategic planning process this month. At the July LES Administrative Board Meeting, LES presented the final LES Strategic Plan. The plan includes updates to sustainability goals highlighting the importance of demand management, energy burden relief and building a “future ready” grid. The LES Administrative Board will vote to approve the strategic plan at the August 15 board meeting. The public can email comments to board members prior to the August meeting here.

LES is also undergoing significant resource planning in response to new Southwest Power Pool resource adequacy rules finalized and approved by the SPP Board of Directors in August 2024. See MEEA's latest blog about these new rules: A New Age of Resource Adequacy. The updated rules required LES to reevaluate its near-term resource plan, previously determined in the LES IRP from 2022. On May 16, the LES Administrative Board voted to approve a mid-year rate increase of 4% and acquisition of two 50MW Aero Combustion Turbines. MEEA submitted testimony to the Board regarding the potential for energy efficiency and demand response to help LES meet resource adequacy needs. On June 23, the Lincoln City Council voted to approve the rate increase, which went into effect in July.  

The June Board of Directors Systems Committee meeting for the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) focused on an update on OPPD’s integrated distribution plan (IDP). The IDP is designed to braid with OPPD’s integrated resource plan, to become an integrated system plan in 2026. The IDP is designed to be a comprehensive plan for the future of the distribution grid, with transformations such as advanced metering infrastructure, grid device modernization, electrification and DER adoption necessitating evolved planning processes. OPPD is expecting to publish a public version of the IDP in 2026.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Nebraska or to get more involved, contact Clara Stein. 

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Regulatory

We are still expecting that First Energy's sixth Energy Security Plan (“ESP VI”) in case 25-0092-EL-SSO will be withdrawn or closed. HB 15 eliminated new ESPs, so it is no longer possible for the utility to have this case approved. Currently, the case remains open.

How to Get Involved 

For more information about Ohio or to get more involved, contact Greg Ehrendreich.  

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Legislative

With the budget now complete, legislators can return their focus to other bills. So far, there have been only a few bills introduced that touch on energy policy, with none directly impacting energy efficiency. The Senate Committee on Utilities and Tourism has only heard and voted out a handful of bills, with the majority focusing on growing nuclear power. The appointments for Public Service Commissioners Nieto (for a term expiring in 2031) and Hawkins (for a term ending in 2027) currently are sitting in that Senate Committee. 

Regulatory

Focus on Energy’s next quadrennial planning process, Quad V, has kicked off. The Wisconsin Public Service Commission is seeking comments to gather stakeholder feedback on the scope of Quad V. Commission staff have released a memo where they identified three topics that they believe should merit attention in this next quadrennial planning process. Those topics are energy versus demand, cost-effectiveness issues and program objectives and structure. Staff outlined six specific questions that they are requesting feedback on, but the memo states that stakeholders should feel free to raise additional topics, priority issues or decisions from Quad IV that they would like to be discussed by the Commission. Comments are due by 1:30 PM on August 11 in docket 5-FE-105.

How to Get Involved

For more information about Wisconsin or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz. 

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Federal updates

Executive

On July 23, the White House issued an executive order to incentivize data center construction on federal lands. Under the order, a qualifying data center project is one that requires more than 100MW of energy. The order directs the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop or modify regulations under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to “streamline permitting review” for data centers. The order does not address concerns about the implications for the electric grid with respect to the energy demand of data centers, nor does it address water or energy efficiency. 

Following the executive order, on July 24, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it had selected four DOE sites to move forward with incentivizing private data center and energy generation projects including one site in the in the Midwest – the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky.

On July 15 a coalition of 12 state attorney generals, including Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota, filed comments opposing DOE’s proposed rules to weaken or repeal energy and water efficiency standards. This is in response to prior executive action, such as Secretary Wright’s May 12 announcement that DOE will rescind energy and water efficiency standards, including standards for clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, battery chargers, microwaves and more. Just prior to this, on May 9, President Trump signed several Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolutions that repeal newer efficiency standards passed by the previous administration.  

Legislative

Just before the July 4 holiday weekend, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) also known as the budget reconciliation bill. The bill cuts a number Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits including:

  • 25C, the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, will be terminated after 12/31/25​
  • 25D, the Residential Clean Energy Credit, will be terminated after 12/31/25
  • ​45L, the New Energy Efficient Home Credit, will be terminated on 6/30/26
  • 45Y/48E, the credits for solar and wind energy projects, will phase out. In order to claim credit, projects must commence construction before July 4, 2026 or be placed in service before December 31, 2027.
  • 179D, the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction, will be terminated on 6/30/26

​A Clean Energy Buyers Association study estimates that the impact of canceling these tax credits will raise the price of energy by 7% in 2026. An analysis completed by Energy Innovation projects that 129,600 jobs will be lost throughout MEEA’s 13 state territory. 

OBBBA did not rescind the Home Energy Rebates programs often referred to as HOMES and HEAR (Home Efficiency Rebates and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates), but it did rescind the State-based Home Energy Efficiency Contractor Training Grants designed to support implementation of the Home Energy Rebates programs. 

On July 13, the House Appropriations Subcommittee released its markup of the energy and water related sections of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill. The appropriations process occurs at this time every year and is separate from the budget reconciliation process used to pass the OBBBA. In its markup, the Appropriations Subcommittee cut the budget for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) within the Department of Energy (DOE) nearly in half, taking it from $3.45 billion in FY25 down to $1.85 billion for FY26. 

On July 21, the House Appropriations Subcommittee released its markup of the interior and environment related sections of the FY26 appropriations bill. The committee markup cuts the EPA budget by 23%. Despite these budget cuts and rumored cuts to ENERGY STAR, the subcommittee did adopt an amendment to maintain level funding for ENERGY STAR for FY26. 

There are several more appropriations bills that need to be marked up and passed before the October 1 start of the new fiscal year. MEEA will continue monitoring this process as the allocation for LIHEAP, which is funded under the Department of Health and Human Services, has not been released yet.

Regulatory 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Mark Christie presided over his final meeting as Chairman in July. Despite rumors that Christie would be reappointed, the Trump administration named energy attorney, Laura Swett, as a replacement. Swett has prior experience working at FERC as an advisor to former Commissioner McNamee, who authored the section on FERC in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 Plan for a second Trump Administration. Additionally, the Trump administration has named David LaCerte, an official in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, to fill the seat vacated by Willie Phillips. LaCerte worked in OPM in both of the Trump terms and worked on energy litigation at a law firm. Both LaCerte and Swett will require Senate approval.

How to Get Involved

Information about a number of federal funding opportunities can be found on the Funding Roundup page of MEEA’s website.

For more information about federal matters or to get more involved, contact Maddie Wazowicz. 

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resources

Recent Publications:

Recent Testimony and Comments:​

Recent Blogs:

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