A late-December regulatory decision will increase the weight Minnesota utilities give in their integrated resource planning to the social and environmental costs of carbon-dioxide emissions, reducing the competitive advantage enjoyed by fossil-fueled powerplants over renewable-energy power generation.
The decision's immediate impact will be felt only in Minnesota, but it comes at a time of growing national concern over climate change caused by CO2 emissions from power generation, and it could foreshadow similar action by regulators in other states.