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The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor 

 criticizing the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, saying the state’s utility regulator has not done a good job helping the public — particularly Native American communities — participate in its complex proceedings.

The report looks back on how the five-member commission handled public participation over the past several years, particularly at meetings involving the controversial 

, a nearly $3 billion project proposed by the Canadian firm Enbridge Energy that 

The report found that the commission has done a poor job educating the public about the roles of its partner agencies, including the state Department of Commerce; it hasn’t provided the public adequate resources to help the public participate in commission proceedings; and it wasn’t adequately prepared to administer meetings regarding Line 3. 

Specifically, the report found that the PUC failed to hold most of its Line 3 meetings in a larger venue, despite the 

 the PUC implemented caused a number of problems, and barred several people who represented intervening parties in the case from attending.

The Line 3 debate 

A who's who on the Minnesota commission deciding on Line 3 pipeline

The report includes several recommendations, including that the PUC provide better resources to help the public understand its unique role and how better to take part in its proceedings. 

It also recommends that the state Legislature require notification of affected tribal governments whenever the notification of other affected governments is required. 

In a written response included with the report, the PUC said it’s been working to improve public engagement. Specifically, the five commissioners say they have adopted a tribal engagement and consultation policy. The agency has also added new public outreach positions. 

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It’s Line 3 all over again   

For years, the PUC toiled in relative obscurity. Its proceedings,

 largely to oversee Minnesota’s regulated electric utilities

, were arcane, and to most casual observers anyway, kind of boring. 

Enbridge Energy’s proposal to replace its Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, with a new, larger line, along a largely different route, thrust the PUC into the public spotlight. Crowds of boisterous proponents and opponents stood in long lines to pack meetings. 

Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth, one of the official parties in the Line 3 proceedings, welcomed the findings of the office of the legislative auditor. 

“The PUC has a systemic blind spot in dealing with Native tribes, especially around energy issues, which now also extends to the majority of Minnesotans who also oppose Line 3,” she said. 

The Sierra Club’s North Star chapter director, Margaret Levin, called the report “further evidence that this pipeline never should have been approved, and it is critical that Gov. Walz do everything in his power to stop it once and for all.” 

It brings PUC higher profile, lots of applicants 

But Kevin Pranis, of the Minnesota and North Dakota region of the Laborers International Union of North America said the PUC is the state agency that’s most skilled at taking public input and incorporating it into decision-making.

“The commission’s process is far more transparent and open to the public than that of any other state agency in Minnesota, and Minnesota’s commission provides many more opportunities for public input than North Dakota’s commission,” Pranis said in testimony to the Office of the Legislative Auditor. 

Any changes the PUC makes to its public participation process will not affect the Line 3 project. The commission 

 earlier this year, after a state court ordered that its environmental review needed to be revised. 

Enbridge has said it anticipates finishing construction of the pipeline next year. But the company still needs additional state permits, and further legal challenges are expected.

Environmental News

Politics and Government News

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Oil and water: The Line 3 debate

Dan Kraker

Author

The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor released a report criticizing the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, saying the state’s utility regulator has not done a good job helping the public — particularly Native communities — participate in its complex proceedings.

PUC commissioners listen during a public hearing. 

Elizabeth Flores | Star Tribune via AP file

A room filled with Minnesotans at a PUC hearing.

Elizabeth Flores | Star Tribune via AP

Opponents of Enbridge Energy's proposal to replace its Line 3 pipeline.

State watchdog office criticizes PUC’s public participation process

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