2026 Legislative Energy Forums

As a member-owned and member-governed institution, democratic participation is a critical part of our identity and how we do what we do - balance affordability and reliability, act with concern for our community, share capital credits with members, and more.  Democratic participation isn't only important with cooperative business; we also encourage members to stay engaged in the larger political process.

Earlier this month, we hosted two Legislative Energy Forums to give members a chance to hear directly from candidates running for the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives.  We recognize the months before an election can be extremely busy, and we thank the following candidates who were able to join us:

John Ajouri
Heather Arndt
Sara Bertschinger
Liz Boldon
Simon Glaser
Angie Hanson
Steve Holm
Heather Holmes
John Howie
Steven Jacob
Jason Lohmann
Patricia Mueller
Nels Pierson
Duane Quam
Brad Trahan

President and CEO Gwen Stevens greeted everyone in advance of the forum and Economic Development and Key Account Manager Marty Walsh served as moderator for the evening.  A high-level recap is shared below.

Economic Competitiveness and Housing

Economic growth and housing availability are closely connected to the long-term success of our communities and the affordability of essential services. Strong economic development creates jobs and supports economic infrastructure. Here in Minnesota, we continue to see fewer new companies investing in our region than in neighboring states and a lack of affordable and available housing to attract and retain workers. We appreciated hearing from candidates about what actions they believe the State can take to improve economic competitiveness, address housing shortages, and support sustainable growth throughout Minnesota.

Affordability

Affordability is an issue on the mind of voters right now, and for some, that includes the cost of electricity. But affordability is only part of a calculation that also includes things like reliability, innovation, and impact. We appreciated hearing from the candidates about what they see as the State’s role in balancing affordability against other factors such as reliability, clean power, and innovative energy solutions.