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The city of St. Paul is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with one of its largest electricity suppliers, Xcel Energy. The final outcome of these discussions will be a new franchise agreement. 

Franchise agreements are contracts between a city and a utility laying out how the company can use the city's existing infrastructure to provide its services. 

St. Paul’s current agreement is a renewal of a contract originally negotiated 20 years ago.

Unidos MN has been working behind-the-scenes to push the city toward what it would see as a more climate-forward, flexible deal.

Madi Johnson, an organizer with Unidos MN, said they want an adjustable fee structure and a shorter agreement in order to better assess Xcel’s reliability, affordability and performance.

“It’s really been in the past decade that cities around the country have realized that this agreement is one of the most important ways we can decide to shift our climate goals,” Johnson said.

In a statement, the city of St. Paul said it had the following priorities for the new contract.

For its part, Xcel Energy shared the following statement with MPR News.

Johnson said the mayor’s office is taking lead on the negotiations but the City Council gets to vote on any potential agreement. 

“This process pretty much happens behind closed doors,” said Johnson. “I think this process should be a lot more democratic because it is ultimately about what kind of relationship do we want to have with our utility, what expectations do we have of them, and how serious are they about getting us to clean energy.”

The existing agreement between St. Paul and Xcel Energy is set to expire in August.

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The city of St. Paul is working out a new franchise agreement with one of its main utilities, Xcel Energy. Unidos MN says it wants to see changes to the fee structure and a shorter contract.

The city of St. Paul is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with one of its largest electricity suppliers, Xcel Energy. The final outcome of these discussions will be a new franchise agreement.Franchise agreements are contracts between a city and a utility laying out how the company can use the city's existing infrastructure to provide its services.Unidos MN has been working behind-the-scenes to push the city toward what it would see as a more climate-forward and fair agreement with Xcel Energy. Madi Johnson, an organizer with Unidos MN, explained more about the process and what's at stake.

Local group wants to see St. Paul reach a more climate-forward, flexible contract with Xcel

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