Loading...
10.d ADDITION_Scandia City Council XE Response 414 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55401 November 18, 2022 Scandia City Council 14727 209th St. N. Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Dear City Council Members, Thank you for your October 19 letter regarding residential solar projects in Scandia. As you are aware, the electric distribution system in Scandia – specifically at the SCA substation and SCA021 feeder – has reached capacity primarily due to the large number of community solar gardens in the area. We support rooftop and other residential solar projects – they do indeed play a role in the clean energy transition. In Scandia and other communities around the state , solar gardens have effectively displaced residential solar projects by using all available capacity. For this reason, in the case of Scandia, the distribution system is unable to host even small projects without significant upgrades. The statewide process governing distribution interconnections requires individual reviews of each project wishing to interconnect. We recognize that process is frustrating for our customers, like your residents, who want to add solar on their own properties. Two substations serve customers in Scandia: Scandia (SCA) and Hugo (HUG). Enclosed please find a map illustrating the general areas in Scandia served by each substation feeder. (Please note that as a standard practice, Xcel Energy does not provide detailed feeder maps due to cybersecurity and physical security concerns.) The SCA substation has one feeder, SCA021, and serves approximately 3,000 total residential customers in the area, including roughly 1,500 in Scandia. SCA021 hosts approximately 15.4 megawatts of solar, with community solar gardens making up 15 megawatts of that amount. SCA has no capacity remaining. As of August, there are 14 applications “on hold” in the interconnection queue. To move forward, these applicants would need to cover the costs of the system upgrades required to support their project. The HUG substation’s HUG321 feeder serves approximately 5,500 residential customers in the area, including roughly 825 in Scandia. HUG321 hosts approximately 20.4 megawatts of solar, 19 megawatts of which is community solar gardens. The HUG321 feeder does have available solar hosting capacity, with no projects currently in the interconnection queue. Developers and any interested parties can always access interconnection queue and hosting capacity information on our website at https://mn.my.xcelenergy.com/s/renewable/developers/interconnection . Please know we are committed to easing obstacles to interconnection wherever possible. To that end, we are evaluating potential creative solutions which we will share with you as details become clearer. We greatly value our partnership with the City of Scandia and commit to keeping you updated on our progress and finding ways we can work together. In the meantime, should you have any question please don’t hesitate to contact our Manager of Community Relations Mike Wilhelmi at 651-779-3105 or via email at Michael.S.Wilhelmi@xcelenergy.com. Sincerely, John Marshall Regional Vice President, Community Relations Xcel Energy cc: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission