In Friday's Morning Take, Blois Olson noted:
TV: Starting today, the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future will begin airing television and online ads during the Girls/Boys Hockey & Girls/Boys Basketball State Tournaments. The Coalition was formed to get the message out to businesses, policymakers, and residents in the Upper Midwest that a balanced energy portfolio that retains coal as a regional energy source will help keep electric rates low, jobs plentiful, and the economy robust. WATCH: http://bit.ly/1Aq7Vsp
The Coalition joins such civic-minded advertisers as PolyMet and the Minnesota Corn Growers who feel the need to woe the high school sports tournament watching audience on KSTC 45 about the righteousness of their enterprises despite what dirty hippies say about water quality or pheasant habitat.
The About page on the website for the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future (CSEF) notes that the group was "officially established" to promote that agenda:
The Coalition for a Secure Energy Future is an organization that has been officially established to get the message out to businesses, policymakers, and residents in the Upper Midwest that retaining an all-of-the-above energy mix that includes coal as a regional energy resource will help keep electric rates low, jobs plentiful, and the economy robust.
Bluestem is certain the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future could not possibly be more official an emissary for North Dakota's coal industry, given the nature of $1.2 million of its funding.
According to the June 5, 2014 Lignite Research Council Agenda of the North Dakota Industrial Commission Lignite Research, Development and Marketing Program, CSEF is funded by a grant from the commission:
Re-Submission of Regional Lignite Public Affairs Plan (Coalition for a Secure Energy Future) Submitted by: Lignite Energy Council; Request for: $600,000 annually for a total of $1,200,000; Project Duration: 2 Years.
While the discussion of the plan was closed meeting, page 35 of the minutes (pdf) of the July 1, 2014 meeting of the North Dakota Development Commission reveal:
During the closed session, it had been moved and seconded that the Industrial Commission accepts the Lignite Research Council recommendation to fund the grant application “Regional Lignite Public Affairs Plan (Coalition for a Secure Energy Future)” and to authorize Karlene Fine, Industrial Commission Executive Director, to execute an agreement with the Lignite Energy Council to provide a total of Industrial Commission Lignite Research Program funding in an amount not to exceed $1,200,000 (marketing) with annual updates presented to the Commission . On a roll call vote, Governor Dalrymple, Attorney General Stenehjem and Commissioner Goehring voted aye. The motion carried unanimously.
The item appears in the Lignite Research, Development and Marketing Program portion of the NDIC minutes.
What is the Lignite Research Council?
The Coalition for a Secure Energy Future employs the metaphor of a hockey game (screenshot above) in the ad that's showing on 45, so let's see who's on coal's team in North Dakota.
The page for the Lignite Research Council on the website for the North Dakota Office of the Governor describes the responsibility of the board and lists its membership:
This Council is a private/public partnership to promote a coordinated research program to preserve and enhance the lignite industry. Twenty-three members are appointed by the governor: four lignite mining representatives; eight lignite processing representatives; one lignite research representative; four state agency representatives; one federal agency representative; one labor representative; one representative from the North Dakota House of Representatives; one representative from the North Dakota Senate; one representative from a political subdivision; and one lignite ownership group representatives.
Here are the members of the Lignite Research Council who are employed by businesses involved in Minnesota's energy industry:
- Boeshans, Wade Employed by BNI Coal Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE (NYSE-ALE). Minnesota Power is part of ALLETE.
- Bohrer, Jason the President and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, parent group of CSEF. Bohrer is the Lignite Energy Council's designated lobbyist in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Winthrop & Weinstine Director of Government Relations John C Reich, who worked so hard to bring us MNSure, helps Bohrer and John Knapp with the Lignite Energy Council lobbying in Minnesota. Before joining the LEC, Bohrer served as chief of staff for Idaho congressman Raul Labrador.
- Dwyer, John W. Recently retired from the Lignite Energy Council, for which Dwyer lobbyied in the state of Minnesota until May 31, 2014.
- Greek, Matthew, an employee of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, which services 137 electrical co-ops, some of which are in Minnesota.
- Kvernen, Luther Kvernen retired in June after 40 years with the Minnkota Power Co-op, a power generation and transmission co-op that operates in North Dakota and Minnesota.
- Morehouse, K. Frank is employed by MDU Resources, which operates electric and gas utilities in eight states, including Minnesota.
- Simmons, Todd works with Minnesota Power's Bison Wind Energy Center in North Dakota.
- Weeda, John is employed by Great River Energy, which provides wholesale electric service to 28 distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin; the firm's three baseload coal-fired power plants provide the bulk of the electric it sells to its customer.
- Zimmerman, Brad is employed by Otter Tail Power, a Fergus Falls-based energy company that's a subsidiary of Otter Tail Corporation. Otter Tail Power operates the Big Stone Plant in South Dakota, the Coyote Plant in North Dakota and the Hoot Plant in Fergus Falls.
Who works how for the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future?
Bluestem can't find much activity by the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future outside of the state of Minnesota, so that's a lovely $600,000 investment per year in our state's public affairs industry.
What are they about? The About Us page notes that consultant Joel Johnson is director:
Joel Johnson, formerly with the Minnesota Rural Electric Association [MREA], is an independent contractor who recently agreed to serve as the Minnesota director for the Coalition for a Secure Energy Future. His experience in energy and with Minnesota Legislature provide the necessary background required to be a voice for coal-based electricity in Minnesota.
According to a post on the MREA's website, Transition for MREA's Joel Johnson:
After spending six years on staff with us at MREA, Joel Johnson has decided to resign from MREA to start his own lobbying firm, OneMinnesota Government Affairs, LLC. Minnesota’s cooperatives truly benefit from Joel’s leadership and hard work. As such, I am also pleased to announce to our membership that we have an arrangement in place to keep Joel as an integral and important member of our team – an arrangement that I believe will further enhance our effectiveness in the areas of Government & Public Affairs.
Joel will remain in his current position through the end of November. In December, Joel will begin in his new role as a contract lobbyist for MREA at the State Capitol. In addition, he will be providing transitional support to MREA and our members during the next several months as we advertise for and select a new face to join our ranks in Government & Public Affairs.
The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Finance Board lobbyist registration for Johnson shows that MREA remains his only client. Likewise co-chairs former state representative Michael Beard and former state state majority leader Roger Moe are registered as lobbyists, though not for CSEF
In a column published in the St. Cloud Times, Moe and Beard wrote:
We will not have a lobbying presence at the Legislature. We simply want to preserve this vital energy source that’s served our communities well for decades.
Not that the two will be leaving their former colleagues in the dark. In a press release announcing their co-chair appointees, Beard said:
“Energy policy isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. It’s a matter that impacts all hard-working Minnesota families. Senator Moe and I will make sure lawmakers have accurate information to help them make energy policy decisions that protect the best interests of the people of this state.”
What are friends for, after all, other than to educate, but not lobby, a guy?
Meanwhile, Johnson (while director of CSEF but only a lobbyist for MREA) and Luke Hellier, a Senior Account Executive for Public Affairs Company, are giving talks about the mission of CSEF to Rotary Clubs in place like Fairmont and Eagan.
Circling back to North Dakota, the Lignite Energy Council's Membership Directory lists Public Affairs Company as among its contractor/supplier members. Winthrop and Weinstine's John Knapp is listed as well. The membership list for the entire group is here.
Regulatory or marketing capture?
What the situation might be, it's clear that the Forces of Lignite are capturing money from North Dakota and funneling it to members in Minnesota to "educate" a spectrum of folks. While Beard said he and Moe would make sure lawmakers would have accurate information to make decisions, and there's a cluster of lobbyists in leadership positions, they also won't maintain a lobbying presence in St. Paul.
That $600,000 a year for two years from the North Dakota Industrial Commission that the Governor of North Dakota signing off on? Talks at Rotary Clubs, an ad on a blog, and a generic Minnesota hockey metaphor ad:
Photo: CSEF's hockey-themed ad (a motif that's a staple of Minnesota politicians) is certainly a contrast with the image at the top of this post, drawn from the 2014 June Coal Creek Tour, a carefree family vacation to the North Dakota coal fields offered by Steele-Waseca Cooperative Electric (kids participate free). (top); still from the tv ad (middle); CSEF director and MREA contract lobbyist Joel Johnson (bottom).
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