By Shannon Fiecke

A quarter of all electricity would come from renewable sources like wind energy under a proposal gathering steam at the state Capitol.

On Wednesday, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a measure mandating 25 percent of our state’s electricity come from cleaner sources by the year 2025.

"This legislation moves Minnesota back to the forefront nationally in regards to renewable energy," Sen. John Doll, DFL-Burnsville, vice chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee, said in an e-mail.

The state’s utility companies, except Xcel Energy, would have to reach certain production benchmarks until reaching the 25 percent milestone. Those with higher amounts of "clean energy" could sell credits to other companies.

Utility companies currently only have to produce 2 percent of their energy from renewable sources, according to Senate testimony.

Xcel Energy, a leading provider of electricity in Minnesota, faces a stiffer requirement. It must generate 30 percent from renewable sources by 2020, with at least 25 percent coming from wind.

A similar proposal is being considered in the House by the Energy Finance and Policy Division, of which Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee, is a member.

Beard said he’s crafting an alternative bill to the main House bill under consideration.

The main proposal right now is slanted toward small wind-energy projects, Beard said, which he believes would choke the economy because of their size.  

Besides not including larger wind projects, the proposal wouldn’t count some other sources of renewable energy, like hydropower from rivers, he said.

"There’s no coherent argument for those not counting environmentally," he said, "which makes me question what’s the real motive here." 

Additionally, the main House proposal only counts newer wind sources, he said, which disadvantages people who had foresight to invest in renewable sources many years ago.

Beard said his alternative measure allows utility companies to count nearly every renewable source, such as Rahr Malting’s planned biomass energy generation plant in Shakopee and hydropower frRoblingom the Missouri River.

With his proposal, it wouldn’t matter how big an operation is, he said, nor how long a utility company has used the source.

"My bill brings more balance and a better perspective for what we can realistically do," he said.

Beard said he hopes components of his proposal are eventually amended onto the main House bill.

The Senate energy bill passed 61 to 4, with support from Doll and Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan.

Earlier this week, after a Senate panel unanimously approved the bill, Robling said she was strongly leaning toward supporting it.

"Some of the former opponents have said, ‘We can live with this,’ " she said. "(It appears) they’ve cobbled together a good compromise."