# Prairie Island dry cask storage payments *Annual payments Minnesota law requires of the operator of the Prairie Island nuclear generating plant for each dry cask of spent nuclear fuel stored there.* **Prairie Island dry cask storage payments** are the annual transfers that Minnesota Statutes section 116C.779, enacted in 1994, requires of the public utility operating the Prairie Island nuclear generating plant. The utility must pay $500,000 a year into a renewable development account for each dry cask holding spent fuel at the plant's independent spent fuel storage installation after January 1, 1999.[^1] The requirement was Article 1, section 10 of Laws 1994, chapter 641 (S.F. No. 1706). That act gave legislative authorization to a facility its title describes as for the "temporary dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel at Prairie Island".[^2] In the same act, the legislature found: "Current and future electric ratepayers are at risk to pay for these uncertain and potentially enormous costs" of disposing of radioactive waste.[^3] Section 216B.1645, subdivision 2, the renewable cost-recovery statute, made expenditures under section 116C.779 recoverable from the utility's ratepayers in its 2022 text. The 2023 amendment, Laws 2023, chapter 7, section 2, kept that recovery for expenditures not offset by utility revenues attributable to them.[^4] The 1994 act required that the contents of the casks be moved "immediately upon the availability of another site" off the island.[^5] The record assembled for this article does not include the current text of section 116C.779, the account's balance, or a count of payments made. It therefore does not establish whether the per-cask amount has changed since 1994. Wikipedia's article on Xcel Energy reports that the legislature later allowed storage beyond the original cask limit.[^6] ## Who The payment obligation falls on the public utility that operates the Prairie Island plant. A companion section of the 1994 act defines "public utility" for its purposes as the utility operating the plant, without naming a company.[^5] Wikipedia's article on [[Xcel Energy]] states that Xcel and its parent company have run Prairie Island since 1973. The same article states that Xcel also runs the [[Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant]] and keeps the spent fuel from both plants in on-site storage installations.[^6] The [[Minnesota Legislature]] enacted chapter 641 in the 1994 Regular Session of the 78th Legislature (1993–1994).[^2] The Legislative Reference Library's list of governors records [[Arne Carlson]], Independent-Republican, as having assumed office on January 7, 1991. His successor, Jesse Ventura of the Reform Party, assumed office on January 4, 1999.[^7] The record does not show the vote on chapter 641 or which party controlled each chamber. The act made its dry cask authorization ineffective until the governor, on behalf of the State, and the utility entered an agreement. The agreement had to bind them to the act's cask limits, the utility's responsibilities, and the wind and biomass mandates. The act named the [[Mdewakanton]] Dakota Tribal Council at Prairie Island an "intended third-party beneficiary" of that agreement that "has standing to enforce the agreement".[^5] The 2023 amendment carrying forward ratepayer recovery of section 116C.779 expenditures was enacted by the 93rd Legislature (2023–2024).[^4] [[Tim Walz]] of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party was then governor; he had assumed office on January 7, 2019.[^7] ## What Section 116C.779 carries the heading "Funding for renewable development." It requires the transfer if waste is stored in a cask for any part of a year: the "transfer must be made if waste is stored in a cask for any part of a year". Money in the account "can only be expended for development of renewable energy sources".[^1] The payment sat inside a broader authorization. In section 116C.77 the legislature recited three approvals: the state environmental quality board's finding of adequacy for the final environmental impact statement, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's license for the facility, and the public utilities commission's limited certificate of need in docket no. E002/CN-91-91. It then ratified the impact statement and certificate. It authorized the casks "without further environmental review under chapter 116D or further administrative review under section 216B.243".[^2] ## When - **May 16, 1991**: The environmental quality board reviewed the final environmental impact statement and found it adequate.[^2] - **October 19, 1993**: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted the facility's license.[^2] - **1994**: Chapter 641 took effect. Article 1, including the payment section, became effective the day after final enactment.[^1] - **December 31, 1996**: Four additional casks depended on findings tied to this date. The utility had to have filed a license application for an off-island storage facility and to have added 100 megawatts of windpower.[^8] - **December 31, 1998**: The deadline for the first wind tranche of 225 megawatts and the first biomass tranche of 50 megawatts.[^9] - **January 1, 1999**: The date after which per-cask payments are owed.[^1] - **Before June 1, 1999**: The legislature could revoke, by law, the authorization for the final eight casks if the off-island site or the wind mandates were not met.[^8] - **December 31, 2002**: The deadline for an additional 200 megawatts of wind and an additional 75 megawatts of biomass.[^9] - **2023**: Laws 2023, chapter 7, section 2 restated the ratepayer-recovery provision for section 116C.779 expenditures.[^4] ## Where The payments are owed for casks at the independent spent fuel storage installation at Prairie Island.[^1] The 1994 act tied further casks to an alternative storage site off Prairie Island in Goodhue County.[^8] According to Wikipedia, the plant is near Red Wing and the stored waste lies next to the Prairie Island Indian Community. The same article reports that some residents' homes are within 600 yards of the storage site and that the island, on the bank of the [[Mississippi River]], is prone to seasonal flooding.[^6] ## Why In Article 2, the legislature stated its reasons. It cited "great uncertainty over the means and costs of disposing of radioactive wastes" and found that these costs did not justify closing an operating plant. It did find that they "do warrant a moratorium on new nuclear plant construction". The act enacted that moratorium by barring the commission from issuing a certificate of need for a new nuclear plant.[^3] In Article 5, the legislature found that it "needs more information on the future management of high-level radioactive waste". It directed a legislative electric energy task force to report on several questions, among them "to what extent utility ratepayers and shareholders and state taxpayers will be shielded from the costs to manage the waste in the future".[^10] The record does not include the task force's reports. ## How The utility makes the transfer for each occupied cask in each year after January 1, 1999.[^1] The cost-recovery statute, in its 2022 text and as amended in 2023, allows those expenditures to be recovered from ratepayers to the extent utility revenues do not offset them.[^4] The act set shipment priorities. If an out-of-state site becomes available, waste in dry casks must be shipped before waste in the spent fuel pool, and each emptied cask must be decommissioned. If the commission finds dual-purpose storage-and-transport casks economically feasible, it must order their use within the same total capacity.[^5] Article 4 barred rate allowances for advertising that "is designed to promote the use of nuclear power or to promote a nuclear waste storage facility". It also required a 50 percent discount on the first 300 kilowatt hours per billing period for low-income residential customers of utilities with more than 200,000 residential electric customers.[^11] ## How much - **Per-cask payment**: $500,000 per cask per year after January 1, 1999.[^1] - **Conservation spending**: Article 3 required a utility that operates a nuclear plant in the state to spend two percent of its in-state gross operating revenues on energy conservation. Other electric utilities were required to spend 1.5 percent.[^9] - **Task force cost**: Assessments on electric utilities to fund the task force were capped at $350,000.[^10] ## How many The act authorized five casks immediately. Four more were permitted on the 1996 conditions and eight more on later conditions. Dry cask capacity could not otherwise exceed the casks authorized, except for decommissioning. A third reracking of the spent fuel pool was allowed, but pool capacity added by reracking plus dry cask capacity in use could not exceed "the total capacity of 17 TN-40 casks".[^8] Wikipedia attributes a 17-cask cap to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in 1991; the 1994 session law states the 17-cask ceiling in statute.[^6] The companion mandates were 225 megawatts of wind by 1998 plus 200 more by 2002. The commission was also to order a further 400 megawatts subject to resource planning. Biomass was set at 50 megawatts by 1998 plus 75 more by 2002.[^9] ## In the Minnesota record ### What Minnesota Statutes section 216B.1691, the renewable energy standard, still requires a utility that owns a nuclear generation facility to file a renewable energy plan with the commission as part of its resource plan.[^12] The 2023 act deleted paragraph (b) of subdivision 2a. That paragraph had required an electric utility that owned a nuclear generating facility as of January 1, 2007, to meet higher percentages: 15 percent by 2010, 18 percent by 2012, 25 percent by 2016 and 30 percent by 2020. The 2023 act also deleted a bar on such a utility selling renewable energy credits to other utilities until 2021.[^13] The Revisor's history table records these 2023 amendments as Laws 2023, chapter 7, sections 3 through 16, together with the new carbon-free standard in subdivision 2g.[^12] ### When On May 4, 2026, the United States filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the State of Minnesota and [[Keith Ellison]], in his official capacity as Attorney General. The case is Case 0:26-cv-02456 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The complaint alleges that the State's climate suit, *Minnesota v. American Petroleum Inst.*, No. 62-cv-20-3837, is preempted by federal law, and it relies on Executive Order No. 14260. It quotes the U.S. Energy Information Administration: "Minnesota has no fossil fuel reserves or production". It also quotes the agency's statement that the State uses "significant renewable resources". The complaint is directed at the climate suit, not at nuclear storage or section 116C.779. The record shows the filing (Doc. 1) and no ruling.[^14] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641 (S.F. No. 1706)*, art. 1, secs. 10–11 (1994) — section 116C.779: $500,000 per year per occupied dry cask after January 1, 1999; transfer due for any part of a year; account limited to renewable development; effective date of Article 1. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^2]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641 (S.F. No. 1706)*, title and art. 1, sec. 1 (1994) — 78th Legislature; act title; recitals of the May 16, 1991 impact statement finding, the October 19, 1993 NRC license and docket E002/CN-91-91; ratification and authorization of casks. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^3]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 2, secs. 1–2 (1994) — legislative findings on waste-disposal costs and ratepayer risk; prohibition on a certificate of need for a new nuclear plant. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^4]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 2023, chapter 7 (H.F. No. 7)*, sec. 2 (2023) — amends section 216B.1645, subd. 2; deleted and new text show section 116C.779 expenditures recoverable from ratepayers in 2022 and as amended; 93rd Legislature. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/7/ [^5]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 1, secs. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (1994) — definition of the public utility; governor–utility agreement and the Tribal Council's standing; shipment priorities; dual-purpose casks; removal of cask contents when another site becomes available. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^6]: Wikipedia, *Xcel Energy* (cached revision, retrieved 2026) — Xcel's operation of Prairie Island since 1973 and of Monticello; on-site fuel storage; location next to the Prairie Island Indian Community and flooding risk; a 1991 commission cap of 17 casks later raised by the legislature (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xcel_Energy [^7]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Minnesota Governors, 1849–Present* — Arne Carlson (Independent-Republican, assumed office 1/7/1991); Jesse Ventura (Reform, 1/4/1999); Tim Walz (Democratic-Farmer-Labor, 1/7/2019). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/gov.aspx [^8]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 1, secs. 2 and 9 (1994) — cask tranches of five, four and eight; the December 31, 1996 conditions; the Goodhue County alternative site; the revocation window before June 1, 1999; the ceiling of 17 TN-40 casks. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^9]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 3, secs. 1–3 (1994) — two percent conservation spending for a utility operating a nuclear plant; wind mandate of 225 + 200 MW plus a 400 MW commission order; biomass mandate of 50 + 75 MW. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^10]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 5, sec. 1 (1994) — legislative electric energy task force; findings; waste-cost questions; $350,000 assessment cap. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^11]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 1994, chapter 641*, art. 4, secs. 2–3 (1994) — bar on rate allowances for nuclear-promotion advertising; low-income electric rate discount. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1994/0/641/ [^12]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes 2026, section 216B.1691* — current text, including the subd. 10 renewable energy plan requirement for nuclear-owning utilities and subd. 2g; history table of the 2023 amendments by chapter 7. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/216B.1691 [^13]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Laws 2023, chapter 7 (H.F. No. 7)*, secs. 5 and 12 (2023) — deletion of subd. 2a(b), the percentages for nuclear-owning utilities, and of subd. 4(e), the credit-sale restriction. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/7/ [^14]: U.S. Department of Justice (posting court filing), *Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, United States v. State of Minnesota and Keith Ellison*, Case 0:26-cv-02456, Doc. 1 (D. Minn., filed May 4, 2026) — the complaint's allegations, the target state-court case and the quoted EIA statements. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1439311/dl?inline