The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved the landmark Aurora Distributed Solar Project, which was selected over a number of gas proposals in a landmark ruling in 2014.
The unsubsidised 100MW project is made up of 2-10MW arrays distributed across the state and was ruled by a judge to be the most cost efficient option, despite opposition from the gas lobby. The PUC upheld the decision despite opposition.
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On Thursday the state’s PUC voted 3-0 in favour of the project granting it the environmental approval and final permits it required.
Geronimo Energy is building the plant for the utility Xcel, which was beholden to choosing the most cost effective strategy to add additional capacity to its network. The courts eventually ruled that distributed solar rather than natural gas was the best option.