In 2013 Minnesota passed the laws the allow for community solar in the Xcel Utility area. Xcel had to write a program to work with independent community solar gardens (CSGs) and this program just opened for subscriptions in December of 2014.
In general, a CSG developer builds a larger (1 megawatt maximum) solar electric array in the Xcel billing area. Xcel customers (in the same or a contiguous county) can purchase subscriptions to cover up to 120% of their average electrical usage. As the array generates electricity Xcel must buy it at a specified rate which is several cents above their average retail rate for the state. Subscribers are given a credit on their Xcel bill for their share of the electricity produced.
In general, a CSG developer builds a larger (1 megawatt maximum) solar electric array in the Xcel billing area. Xcel customers (in the same or a contiguous county) can purchase subscriptions to cover up to 120% of their average electrical usage. As the array generates electricity Xcel must buy it at a specified rate which is several cents above their average retail rate for the state. Subscribers are given a credit on their Xcel bill for their share of the electricity produced.
To learn more about the details of the program check out the Clean Energy Resource Teams community solar page. CERTs is affiliated with the University of Minnesota, MN Dept of Commerce, US Dept of Energy and several Minnesota foundations and has been a leader in researching how Minnesota community solar policy will be developed.
Community solar developers have figured out a way to use the incentives embedded in the rate that Xcel pays for community solar electricity in Minnesota to allow the subscriber to pay for their subscription. This means you can subscribe to a CSG virtually for free, and over your 25 year subscription use your Xcel CSG bill credit to pay, and still keep 5 to 10 percent of the bill credits.
Community Solar greatly expands the people who have access to clean emission free electricity. And Power Up Winona community solar participants are working to bring a CSG to Winona. If you are interested send us your contact information and when subscription reservation opens we will contact you.
How much you can subscribe to is dependent on how much electricity you used in the past, so look at your Xcel bills and tell us how much in KiloWatt hours you used last year.
Community solar developers have figured out a way to use the incentives embedded in the rate that Xcel pays for community solar electricity in Minnesota to allow the subscriber to pay for their subscription. This means you can subscribe to a CSG virtually for free, and over your 25 year subscription use your Xcel CSG bill credit to pay, and still keep 5 to 10 percent of the bill credits.
Community Solar greatly expands the people who have access to clean emission free electricity. And Power Up Winona community solar participants are working to bring a CSG to Winona. If you are interested send us your contact information and when subscription reservation opens we will contact you.
How much you can subscribe to is dependent on how much electricity you used in the past, so look at your Xcel bills and tell us how much in KiloWatt hours you used last year.