Key Program Details
Interconnection Agreement Requirement
Based on subdivision 5(b)(1), Commerce requires a signed interconnection agreement but does not require that a project enter through a particular interconnection portal. Xcel Energy handles the technical review required to secure an Interconnection Agreement as described in MNDIP. To become a solar garden, a Subscriber Organization then applies with a project, that meets all programmatic requirements, to Commerce. If approved, a Subscriber Organization then works with Xcel to continue the process toward project construction and setting up subscribers at the appropriate bill compensation rates.
Eligible LMI Households
LMI-Accessible Community Solar Gardens must reserve at least 30% of capacity for LMI Residential Subscribers. Subscriber Organizations may qualify households as income-eligible using one of the three pathways below. All LMI Residential Subscribers must complete the Attestation of Income-Based Eligibility and submit it to their Subscriber Organization, along with supporting documentation.
- Pathway A: Verify that the household participates in an approved categorical program, as listed in Commerce's ECO program guidance.
- Pathway B: Verify that the household’s total annual income is at or below 150% of the area median income, as reported in the household’s most recently filed IRS Form 1040.
- Pathway C: If the household is unable to provide a Form 1040, verify that the household meets income eligibility requirements through alternative documentation of the household's income sources, as specified in program guidance materials.
Key Documents
- Subscriber Attestation of Income-Based Eligibility for LMI-Accessible CSG Program
- Subscriber Organization Instructions for Income Verification Procedures
- Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Program Guidance providing the list of programs approved for categorical eligibility, updated December 2023
- 2024 Minnesota Area Median Income Look-Up Table referencing HUD income levels by county and household size, updated April 2024
- Program Definitions
- Initial Subscriber Mix Report Template
Reporting
Subscriber Organizations must report an approved CSG’s initial subscriber mix to the Program Administrator within 30 days of the project beginning to generate bill credits for its subscribers. Please use the “Initial Subscriber Mix Report Template” found in the Key Documents section.
The annual reporting process for operational LMI-Accessible CSGs will be announced in 2025.
Consumer Protections
The new LMI-Accessible CSG Program includes consumer protections that prohibit community solar garden developers or their marketing representatives from:
- checking the credit score or credit history of a new or existing residential subscriber
- charging an exit fee to a residential subscriber
- enrolling a subscriber without the subscriber's prior, voluntary consent
- engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct, and
- making false or misleading representations.
Additional Key Features
Key features include:
- At least 30% of each project’s energy capacity must be subscribed to by low- and moderate-income households.
- At least 55% of each project’s energy capacity must be subscribed to low- and moderate-income households, affordable housing providers, and public interest subscribers (including schools, faith communities, and non-profits).
- Subscribers can be from anywhere in Xcel Energy’s Minnesota service territory. The LMI-Accessible CSG Program does not require that subscribers be in the same or an adjacent county to the project.
- Individual gardens may be sized up to 5 MW.
- The total annual capacity of new gardens is capped. In 2024, Commerce can approve no more than 100 MW.
- The bill credit rates for subscribers will be calculated by customer class based on a percentage of the annually updated average retail electric rates (A50 rates). The final approved rates approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will be published in the new CSG docket: 23-335.