Partner Andrew Moratzka and attorney Sara Bergan were quoted in Solar Industry magazine in an article titled “Minnesota PUC Green-Lights Xcel's Community Solar Gardens Program.” The article discusses the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) approval of the Xcel Energy’s Community Solar Garden (CSG) program.
The decision clarified siting issues and who qualifies as a potential CSG subscriber. "The most significant thing about the decision is that it starts the 90-day clock for when the program has to open," said Bergan. "There's a lot of development waiting for the gate to open."
Moratzka addressed the consideration by the PUC of using a value of solar (VOS) tariff—a method intended to capture the often-ignored societal value of PV-generated electricity—for Xcel’s CSG program, which in the end the PUC declined to do. "More evidence of what the VOS rate needs to be financeable in the CSG context is being considered by the commission," he said.
Read “Minnesota PUC Green-Lights Xcel's Community Solar Gardens Program,” published September 23, 2014. (Subscription required.)