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2 <br /> <br />The applicant is requesting that the City amend the Zoning Ordinance to allow Community Solar <br />Gardens. Typically, this type of development requires a minimum of five acres of land for <br />installation of solar panels and the associated infrastructure. <br /> <br />ANALYSIS <br /> <br />Solar Legislation <br />In 2007, the State of Minnesota adopted legislation that created a Renewable Portfolio Standard <br />(RPS) for investor-owned utilities and public/cooperative utilities, which mandates that a certain <br />percentage of each utility’s generation portfolio be derived from renewable sources by a certain <br />year. In particular, Xcel Energy is required to obtain 31.5% of their generation from renewable <br />sources by 2020, and Minnesota’s 2013 legislation further requires that an additional 1.5% of the <br />utility’s retail electricity sales be derived from solar power by the year 2020. <br /> <br />The State Legislature established the Community Solar Garden program in order to facilitate the <br />production of solar energy in the State. The community solar garden model allows individuals, <br />businesses, schools, and civic entities – known as “subscribers” – that have limited options to <br />install their own on-site solar panels to purchase or “subscribe” to a portion or a “share” of the <br />output from a given solar garden. This allows subscribers to purchase clean, renewable energy at <br />a savings compared to their current utility bill, without making costly upfront investments in a <br />solar system. <br /> <br />The Community Solar Garden legislation is specific to Xcel, which requires them to provide <br />energy to consumers from solar at reduced cost. Other utilities may have a community solar <br />garden model; however, it is staff’s understanding they are not subject to the state law provisions <br />for Xcel’s Community Solar Garden program. <br /> <br />The following table summarizes selected provisions of the current legislation related to Xcel’s <br />Community Solar Garden program: <br /> <br />Program <br />Feature <br />Public Utilities Commission Decision <br />Statewide Program Capacity Unlimited <br />Rate at which Solar Garden <br />Generated Electricity Is Purchased <br />by Xcel and Credited to Subscribers <br />Value-of-solar rate: $0.1033 in 2017; $0.1006 in <br />2018 <br />Capacity Limits 1 MW <br />(1 MW requires approximately 5-8 acres of land) <br />Contract Length 25 years <br /> <br />Staff has included an Information Brief from the Research Department at the Minnesota House <br />of Representatives on the Xcel Legislation as an attachment to this document. <br />