1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to utilities; requiring at least two members 
  1.3             of the public utilities commission to be from outside 
  1.4             the metropolitan area; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             2002, section 216A.03, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 216A.03, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [MEMBERS.] The public utilities commission 
  1.10  shall consist of five members.  The terms of members shall be 
  1.11  six years and until their successors have been appointed and 
  1.12  qualified.  Each commissioner shall be appointed by the governor 
  1.13  by and with the advice and consent of the senate.  Not more than 
  1.14  three commissioners shall belong to the same political party.  
  1.15  At least one commissioner two commissioners must have been be 
  1.16  domiciled at the time of appointment outside the seven-county 
  1.17  metropolitan area.  If the membership of the commission after 
  1.18  July 31, 1986 August 1, 2003, does not consist of at least one 
  1.19  member two members domiciled at the time of appointment outside 
  1.20  the seven-county metropolitan area, the membership shall conform 
  1.21  to this requirement following normal attrition of the present 
  1.22  commissioners.  The governor when selecting commissioners shall 
  1.23  give consideration to persons learned in the law or persons who 
  1.24  have engaged in the profession of engineering, public 
  1.25  accounting, property and utility valuation, finance, physical or 
  2.1   natural sciences, production agriculture, or natural resources 
  2.2   as well as being representative of the general public. 
  2.3      For purposes of this subdivision, "seven-county 
  2.4   metropolitan area" means Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, 
  2.5   Ramsey, Scott, and Washington counties.