To slow a warming climate, Minnesota is changing where it gets electricity — shrinking the state’s reliance on fossil fuels and expanding the use of renewable energy.

Today, more than half of Minnesota’s electricity comes from solar, wind and hydropower. But challenges remain.

For the state to reach its ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, Minnesotans would need to embrace new ways of heating homes, traveling, powering the state’s factories and much more. And now there are questions about how President Donald Trump’s tariffs and opposition to wind and solar energy might affect an energy transition.

MPR News has been exploring a transition to a carbon-free economy in the series Getting to Green. 

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, MPR News correspondents Dan Kraker and Kirsti Marohn talk about the progress toward green energy and what the future holds.

And we want to hear from you, too.

What questions do you have about how Minnesota gets its fuel and electricity? If you’ve changed how you get around or heat your home to use carbon-free sources, tell us how it’s going and the challenges you’ve faced.

Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828.

Guests:

• Allen Gleckner is the executive lead for policy and programs at Fresh Energy, a St. Paul-based clean energy nonprofit that develops decarbonization strategies to advance the clean energy economy. He focuses on technical innovation and policies that will lead to clean energy in the electric system.  

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.     

Minnesota’s House enters its third act this week.

After a January lockup and slumping through much of February and early March, a special election offers the latest restart. That along with a fresh economic forecast provide the foundation for lawmakers to get down to the Legislature’s main task: Setting a new state budget.

The state will have less flexibility in its budget, as Thursday’s forecast painted a darker picture. Lawmakers have little extra to pad the new budget down to $456 million, from the $616 million projected to be there in a report just a few months ago.

As this budget gets tighter, the projections for the next budget cycle grew worse, with a projected $6 billion deficit. 

And that’s before the federal government makes significant changes that could ripple through the states, including possible cuts to Medicaid, education aid and other pots of funding. Officials say just a 10 percent cut in Medicaid dollars would cut more than $1 billion from the state budget.

Tuesday’s special election will determine who is in charge of the Minnesota House. 

A Republican win would provide the party a clear majority and powerful perch for end-of-session budget positioning. A DFL win would put the House into a tie and a shared governance situation.

Democrats won the House 40B seat in November, but their candidate was found not to have residency in the district. That’s left it open through the first eight weeks of session (including the DFL boycott for the first few weeks). Republicans have had operational control with a 67 to 66 edge.

DFL candidate David Gottfried and GOP candidate Paul Wikstrom are the nominees for the seat, which covers parts of Roseville and Shoreview. It’s an area that tends to back Democrats.

If Gottfried wins, it will put the House into a 67 to 67 tie. That would mean the majority of House committees would have shared leadership, meaning bills will have to have bipartisan support to advance.

If Wikstrom wins, it would give Republicans 68 members, which is the number needed to pass bills. It would give them a much-stronger hand through the rest of session.

Majority Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said Republicans aren’t waiting for the election to bring their preferred bills up for votes.

“We’re going to be, again, moving forward a number of our priority bills,” he said. “There are going to be some bills that I hope we do have bipartisan support on, and some bills where we have heard Democrats continue, even on things that are common sense proposals, to oppose. We think it’s important that where there are those areas of difference, that the people of Minnesota see what responsible Republican governance looks like, and what Democratic opposition to those ideas looks like.”

Rep. Jamie Long, a Minneapolis lawmaker who is the House DFL floor leader, said he feels like it has been wasted time.

“We haven’t seen very many attempts at bipartisanship on the floor. It’s mostly been rehashing old fights, and so we’ll see,” he said. “They haven’t told me what they’re planning yet, but I know that our side is eager to get to work together and try to actually come up with solutions for some of the challenges we may be facing.”

The House will debate a bill Monday afternoon dealing with reports from the Office of the Legislative Auditor. The goal is to assess whether agencies have addressed findings and recommendations the auditor has made in the last five years.

It would also require a committee hearing on the auditor’s report findings before the committee takes on legislation approving money to the entity.

The House bill has 32 sponsors, all Republicans. A companion bill in the Senate has bipartisan support.

MPR News senior politics reporter Dana Ferguson contributed to this story.

Aaron Jones will avoid free agency and re-sign with the Minnesota Vikings. He agreed to a two-year deal worth $20 million to stay in the Twin Cities, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Free agency’s top running back is now off the market after securing his NFL home for the 2025 season.

Jones found himself in free agency for the second straight offseason. He inked a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 following his departure from the Green Bay Packers. Remaining in the NFC North turned out to be a good thing for Jones, who turned 306 touches into 1,546 scrimmage yards.

The 30-year-old has been bitten by the injury bug in recent years but managed to play in all 17 games last season.

After being buried in what was a strong running back market headlined by Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs in 2024, Jones finally had his chance to be atop the class.