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In 2007 Minnesota established a renewable energy standard for electric utilities. See Minn. Stat. Section 216B.1691. The requirement applies to power suppliers: an investor-owned utility, a generation and transmission cooperative electric association, a municipal power agency, or a power district. The mandate does not apply to municipal electric utilities or rural electric cooperatives, but it does apply to the energy they purchase and sell to their customers.
Energy must be generated from one of the following renewable energy sources:
A Minnesota electric utility’s total retail sales must include the following percentage of energy generated by eligible energy technologies by the end of the year indicated:
Xcel Energy is subject to a different series of requirements.
A utility may petition the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to modify or delay the implementation of a standard. Grounds for medication or delay include:
In the 2012 reporting period all of the municipally-owned power suppliers in Minnesota met the required standard of 12 percent.
By the end of 2020 1.5 percent of an investor-owned utility’s total retail electric sales to retail customers in Minnesota must be generated by solar energy. At least ten percent of the 1.5 percent goal must be met by solar energy generated by or procured from solar photovoltaic devices with a nameplate capacity of 20 kilowatts or less.
The solar energy standard does not apply to municipal or cooperative utilities.
It is an energy goal of the state of Minnesota that, by 2030, ten percent of the retail electric sales in Minnesota be generated by solar energy.
* New law became effective February 8, 2023 that substantially changes these requirements. Check back for updated information following the 2023 legislative session.
The Capitol Letter is written by our government relations staff and focuses on the latest legislative information of interest to municipal utilities. This newsletter is regularly emailed to subscribers. If you are an MMUA Regular Member and would like to receive this newsletter, contact us!
The MMUA Tom Bovitz Memorial Scholarship provides funding for post-secondary education. Winners must be customers, or dependents of customers, of MMUA-member electric or gas utilities. The essay contest takes place in the spring of the year.
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