2015 Minnesota Statutes

216B.2425 STATE TRANSMISSION Next AND DISTRIBUTION Previous PLAN Next .

Subdivision 1.List.

The commission shall maintain a list of certified high-voltage Previous transmission Next line projects.

Subd. 2.List development; Previous transmission Next projects report.

(a) By November 1 of each odd-numbered year, a Previous transmission Next projects report must be submitted to the commission by each utility, organization, or company that:

(1) is a public utility, a municipal utility, a cooperative electric association, the generation and Previous transmission Next organization that serves each utility or association, or a Previous transmission Next company; and

(2) owns or operates electric Previous transmission Next lines in Minnesota, except a company or organization that owns a Previous transmission Next line that serves a single customer or interconnects a single generating facility.

(b) The report may be submitted jointly or individually to the commission.

(c) The report must:

(1) list specific present and reasonably foreseeable future inadequacies in the Previous transmission Next system in Minnesota;

(2) identify alternative means of addressing each inadequacy listed;

(3) identify general economic, environmental, and social issues associated with each alternative; and

(4) provide a summary of public input related to the list of inadequacies and the role of local government officials and other interested persons in assisting to develop the list and analyze alternatives.

(d) To meet the requirements of this subdivision, reporting parties may rely on available information and analysis developed by a regional Previous transmission Next organization or any subgroup of a regional Previous transmission Next organization and may develop and include additional information as necessary.

(e) In addition to providing the information required under this subdivision, a utility operating under a Previous multiyear Next Previous rate Next Previous plan Next approved by the commission under section 216B.16, subdivision 19, shall identify in its report investments that it considers necessary to modernize the Previous transmission Next and distribution system by enhancing reliability, improving security against cyber and physical threats, and by increasing energy conservation opportunities by facilitating communication between the utility and its customers through the use of two-way meters, control technologies, energy storage and microgrids, technologies to enable demand response, and other innovative technologies.

Subd. 3.Commission approval.

By June 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall adopt a state Previous transmission Next project list and shall certify, certify as modified, or deny certification of the Previous transmission Next and distribution projects proposed under subdivision 2. The commission may only certify a project that is a high-voltage Previous transmission Next line as defined in section 216B.2421, subdivision 2, that the commission finds is:

(1) necessary to maintain or enhance the reliability of electric service to Minnesota consumers;

(2) needed, applying the criteria in section 216B.243, subdivision 3; and

(3) in the public interest, taking into account electric energy system needs and economic, environmental, and social interests affected by the project.

Subd. 4.List; effect.

Certification of a project as a priority electric Previous transmission Next project satisfies section 216B.243. A certified project on which construction has not begun more than six years after being placed on the list, must be reapproved by the commission.

Subd. 5. Previous Transmission Next inventory.

The Department of Commerce shall create, maintain, and update annually an inventory of Previous transmission Next lines in the state.

Subd. 6.Exclusion.

This section does not apply to any Previous transmission Next line proposal that has been approved by, or was pending before, a local unit of government, the Environmental Quality Board, or the Public Utilities Commission on August 1, 2001.

Subd. 7. Previous Transmission Next needed to support renewable resources.

(a) Each entity subject to this section shall determine necessary Previous transmission Next upgrades to support development of renewable energy resources required to meet objectives under section 216B.1691 and shall include those upgrades in its report under subdivision 2.

(b) MS 2008 [Expired]

Subd. 8.Distribution study for distributed generation.

Each entity subject to this section that is operating under a Previous multiyear Next Previous rate Next Previous plan approved under section 216B.16, subdivision 19, shall conduct a distribution study to identify interconnection points on its distribution system for small-scale distributed generation resources and shall identify necessary distribution upgrades to support the continued development of distributed generation resources, and shall include the study in its report required under subdivision 2.

History:

2001 c 212 art 7 s 30; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 56; 1Sp2003 c 11 art 2 s 8; 2005 c 97 art 1 s 7; art 2 s 3,7; 2011 c 97 s 22; 1Sp2015 c 1 art 3 s 22