Renewable Energy in Minnesota Receives a Battery Boost with Connexus Project

Connexus project marks a new step in Minnesota for renewable energy.

Renewable energy in Minnesota is about to take a potentially big step forward.

Connexus Energy is building two electricity “storage” systems — solar-panel arrays connected to big batteries. Each battery can store up to two hours of power, allowing Connexus to inject renewable energy into the grid on command.

Critics say Bill to Authorize PACE in Minnesota Contains a Fatal Flaw

Minnesota lawmakers may allow homeowners to finance energy improvements through their property taxes, but critics say the bill is flawed.

A bill allowing local governments to offer residential PACE programs in Minnesota has gained bipartisan support and may likely pass this session.

But critics say the way the legislation prioritizes loans could prevent any residential PACE program from ever getting off the ground.

Minnesota Cities Learn from Buying Community Solar Together

The nation’s first ever attempt to have municipal governments collectively buy power from community solar gardens was a modest success, according to a new report.

While municipalities in other parts of the country have come together to buy rooftop solar, none had ever tried it to capture cost savings in the nascent community solar marketplace, said Trevor Drake, project manager at the Great Plains Institute.

Minnesota has one of the country’s largest and best developed community solar markets, with more than 100 MW expected to go live this year. The cities involved in the “Governmental Solar Garden Subscriber Collaborative” are expected to contract for about 33 MW, according to Drake.

Amid Lawmaker Concerns, Record Year Ahead for Minnesota Solar Incentive Program

The beleaguered Made in Minnesota solar panel incentive program — facing scrutiny from state lawmakers over its effectiveness — will support 73 percent more projects in 2017 than it did in 2016.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce released the figures last week. State Republicans have called for dissolution of the program, which pays applicants a slightly higher per-kilowatt-hour payment for 10 years in return for buying panels certified as being made in Minnesota by one of the following companies: Heliene, Inc., Itek Energy and Silicon Energy.

Minnesota Looks to Double Renewable Energy Standard to 50% by 2030

Bipartisan lawmakers in Minnesota want utilities in that state to procure 50% of power sold by 2030 from renewable sources. The measure, if passed, could put the state’s renewable efforts on par with California’s.

The bipartisan bill introduced in the Minnesota Legislature on February 27 seeks to double the state’s renewable energy standard, which is currently 25% by 2025.

Lawmakers noted that the state is already on track to surpass current goals set by the Next Generation Energy Act, which was enacted by former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) in 2007. That bill was overwhelmingly supported by 97% of legislators.

Minnesota House Republicans Criticize Renewable Energy Initiatives

Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota House are considering killing a solar incentive and taking control of an energy fund they say has little oversight.

The bill would shift money deposited into a renewable energy account to a general energy fund and end the “Made in Minnesota” solar energy

GOP lawmakers want more legislative oversight of the state’s energy funds and pointed toward the low energy production from the solar incentive at a Monday House ways and means committee hearing as a sign of the energy program’s failure. The bill continues an early trend in the session of Republican lawmakers seeking to rein in spending with tighter legislative control. Still, House Democrats said they see the bill as a shift away from a commitment to alternative energy sources that would result in the loss of almost 500 jobs in the state.

The Minnesota Solar Experiment — Value of Solar: Part III

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles focusing on Minnesota’s solar market. Past articles can be accessed here.

In addition to Solar Gardens initiative, Minnesota’s Value of Solar Tariff (VOST) initiative was seen as the first large-scale stage for the new calculation methodology originally pioneered by Austin Energy. The VOST method adds up multiple value streams for distributed solar, such as energy, capacity, and environmental benefits, to create a single purchasing rate that separates a solar customer’s consumption from their generation. Once the calculation methodology was developed, Minnesota investor-owned utilities (IOU) could use it to replace net metering, at their option.

Political Divide Emerges Over Minnesota Energy Policy

House bill would let utilities decide which renewable energy sources are cheaper.

State Rep. Pat Garofalo says he’s not trying to undo decades of progress on energy conservation and renewable energy in Minnesota.

That’s been the reaction from clean-energy interests to the House energy committee chairman’s proposed revision of state renewable energy policy released this week.

One solar manufacturer says it would shut down its Mountain Iron, Minn., production plant if the House measure becomes law.

“Never have I seen some people so upset over a bill that reduces energy pollution and lowers energy costs,” tweeted Garofalo, R-Farmington, who drives a Tesla electric car and believes such innovative technology is part of the solution.

Minnesota’s Great Leap Into Solar Begins

Solar PV may soon start catching up with wind development in the state.

Minnesota, now blanketed in snow, is preparing for a sun-filled spring. 

Pro-solar legislation has led to an explosion of solar development in the state, leading Xcel Energy to dramatically revise its future investment plans. The utility now expects to get 10 percent of its power from the sun by 2030. But market developments suggest that number may be conservative.

Correction: Emissions Reductions-Minnesota Story

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — In a story Nov. 20 about greenhouse gas emissions, The Associated Press reported erroneously that state officials said Minnesota is not on track to meet emissions standards set by the federal government. State officials said Minnesota is not on track to meet emissions standards set by the state.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Minnesota not on track to meet emission reductions

Minnesota not on track to meet state-set greenhouse gas reduction goals

What Your City Can Do To Fight Climate Change

The Obama administration is pushing power plant regulations to reduce carbon emissions and most states have some sort of renewable energy policy. But there’s plenty of opportunity left for action at the local level; action that can also boost the local economy.

The following presentation by ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy John Farrell to the Northfield Climate Summit on January 18, 2014, illustrates what one small Minnesota town has done, what other steps it can take as part of the state’s GreenStep Cities program, and model local climate actions from around the United States.

Xcel Energy's Popular Solar Rebates Won’t Be as Generous

The popular Xcel Energy program to subsidize solar panels on Minnesota homes and businesses is slated for major changes next year that may make it less attractive to customers who install such systems.

But Xcel said Thursday that it expects more people to take advantage of its Solar Rewards program even if incentives are reduced further in 2015 and 2016 as the company proposes.

New Law Spurs Community Solar Projects in MN

If you don’t have a sunny rooftop, solar energy developers offer an alternative — a share of a community solar garden.

Solar gardens are sprouting in Minnesota.

These innovative solar power projects allow electric customers to invest in a large array off their property and own a share of the output, which gets credited to their monthly bills.

Marty Touts Renewable Energy Law as a Key Victory of 2013 Session

Dozens of new laws passed by the Minnesota State Legislature took effect earlier this month (July) including a $1.50 cigarette hike to pay for the new Vikings stadium and more than $130 million appropriated for all-day kindergarten.

But among those new laws that Roseville state senator John Marty is most proud of and considers a key success of the 2013 session: The renewable energy law.

New Minnesota Solar Mandate Law Will Give Power Companies a Jolt

Large solar arrays are likely to sprout in Minnesota after lawmakers required Xcel and other big utilities to get 1.5% of their power from the sun by 2020.

Minnesota’s solar industry is getting a jolt of energy.

It doesn’t sound like much — a requirement that major utilities generate 1.5 percent of their power from the sun by 2020. That’s roughly the output of one power plant or wind farm.

Dayton Signs Solar Energy Bill

Minnesota's investor-owned utilities will be required to get 1.5 percent of their power from solar energy by 2020 under legislation signed by Gov. Mark Dayton. 

The solar energy standard also sets a statewide goal of reaching 10 percent by 2030. 

Minnesota’s New Solar Law: Looking Beyond Percentages

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday signed into law an energy bill that’s projected to give the state a more than thirtyfold increase in solar generation by the end of the decade.

The Solar Energy Jobs Act was rolled into a larger, omnibus economic development bill and approved by the state’s legislature last week.

Minnesota: Worry over wind energy tax credit expiring

It's money that's created several jobs in our area, but the wind energy tax credit is set to expire. The question now is should it be extended?

Mower County has invested a lot in renewable energy over the years and this past year received more money for wind energy programs than any county in the state, but that soon could be reduced severely.

"The Production Tax Credit bill has expired three other times and each time it was renewed. It's kind of a boom, bust scenario," says Steve Vietor, a wind/solar instructor at Riverland Community College.

New Hampshire: What are the implications of FERC's new ruling on interstate transmission for hydropower development?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 1000 on July 21. The order amends FERC's requirements for interstate electric transmission companies to allocate the costs of transmission planning and developments to their customers. This is a big step for transmission projects and planning and the effect it will have on renewable energy projects, especially hydroelectric developments, could be positive.

What is Order 1000?

How blue state policy is greening up red states too

Increasingly, red states are also benefitting from the development of local renewable energy to meet renewable energy standards (RES) in blue states.

A legislative task force in very red state South Dakota recently proposed changes favoring wind farm construction (tip from regular reader Bob Wallace). Coal rich and empty, South Dakota has no RES requiring renewable energy, and little local demand for new energy, but the task force was concerned that much lower taxes on wind farms to encourage renewable energy development in neighboring windy states led to South Dakota being out-competed for wind farm development.