Public Service Commission approves Maple Grove Solar CPCN with conditions

Commissioner Maria Nieto, Commissioner, Public Service Commission, led the Commission’s discussion and moved to approve Maple Grove Solar’s application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) for a utility-scale solar facility in Barron County, and the Commission approved the CPCN with conditions on Jan. 16, 2025.

The project, filed Feb. 13, 2023 by Maple Grove Solar (an independent power producer described in the record as wholly owned by IBV Energy Partners), seeks authority to construct a solar photovoltaic generation facility with a nameplate capacity of up to 259.6 megawatts AC, to interconnect up to 228 megawatts AC to the grid, a 50-megawatt DC lithium-ion battery energy storage system, and a roughly 1.7-mile 161 kV generation tie line to the Barron substation. The Commission reviewed the application under Wisconsin Statute section 196.491(3) and Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter PSC 111 and classified the project as a Type 2 action under PSC 4.10(2).

Why it matters: Commissioners said the project will add utility-scale renewable generation in Wisconsin and advance state clean-energy goals. Commissioner Nieto told colleagues the Commission’s environmental assessment and supplemental assessment evaluated community, private-property and environmental impacts and that intervenors Renew and Clean Wisconsin supported the project. She said the project represents a significant investment in the state’s clean-energy transition and…