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Senate committee votes to send bill to sunset community solar to Senate floor after contentious debate
Summary
After hours of testimony from developers, utilities, advocacy groups and senators, the Energy Committee voted 8–3 to recommend passage of Senate File 2855, a bill that would sunset Minnesota's community solar garden program; the vote will now go to the Senate floor.
The Minnesota Senate Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee voted 8–3 to recommend passage of Senate File 2855, a bill that would sunset the state’s community solar garden (CSG) program in three years. The vote followed several hours of testimony from utilities, developers, labor and community organizations and wide-ranging questions from senators on cost, equity and reliability.
Senator Frentz, who presented the bill, told the committee that his central concern is the program’s cost and the subsidization of non-subscribing ratepayers. "The cheaper the energy is, the more we will build," he said, urging senators to consider removing a program that he argued now imposes above-market costs on all ratepayers. Frentz cited the fuel clause totals from Xcel Energy reporting and said roughly $262 million of fuel-clause costs were…
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