Notice of Request for Applications

Minnesota Low and Moderate-Income Accessible

Community Solar Garden Program

2024 - Batch 10

During the 2023 Legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature made changes to the Community Solar Garden statute (Minn. Stat. 216B.1641), sunsetting the “Legacy” program operated by Xcel Energy and establishing a new program to be administered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce (“Department”). The Department is now accepting applications for the new Low and Moderate-Income Accessible Community Solar Garden Program (“LMI-Accessible CSG Program”).

Information about the new LMI-Accessible CSG Program can be accessed on the Department’s LMI-Accessible CSG Program website, with newly-updated separate pages for consumers and developers. Visit the Department’s RFP website to download the full RFA and access the application portal.

The Department seeks applications from in-development solar systems seeking approval to become community solar gardens. No funding is available through this program. It will be the responsibility of individual developers or owners of community solar gardens (“Subscriber Organizations”) to sign up subscribers. Please note that the LMI-Accessible CSG Program is only available to projects built in Xcel Energy’s service territory and that all subscribers must be customers of Xcel Energy.

The Department is accepting and reviewing applications in batches on a monthly basis. Each application round will be a standalone batch.

The remaining application rounds for the LMI-Accessible CSG Program for the 2024 program year will be as follows:

• Batch 10: November 1-21
• Batch 11: December 2-31

Applications for Batch 10 will be accepted starting Friday, November 1, 2024. To be considered for Batch 10, project applications must be submitted by no later than Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 4:00 PM Central Time through the application portal.

All expenses incurred in applying to this notice are solely the responsibility of the applicant.

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