+ What Is a Community Solar Garden?

A Community Solar Garden is a large solar PV (photo-voltaic) project where the electricity (generated from sunlight) is credited to many people in a community who choose to subscribe. Like a community garden in which each person has a plot, each participant (called a subscriber) generates electricity from their part of the solar garden. The electricity is delivered via the existing utility grid and is credited to subscriber’s electric bills, so subscribers do not need to be physically located next to the solar garden. The cost of subscribing is usually less than the money saved on energy bills, so subscribers save right away. Unlike the coal, nuclear, gas, and oil that produce most of the energy we use, solar energy is pollution free.

+ Is there really enough sun in Minnesota for solar to work?

Yes, there is already enough solar installed in Minnesota to power tens of thousands of homes. Minnesota gets more sun per year than Germany, which has one of the largest solar industries on earth. While the short days in the winter mean we get less winter power than many other areas, the long summer days more than compensate for it. Solar electricity is created by light, not heat, so cold, clear days in the winter generate plenty of electricity. The reasons you don’t see solar everywhere already are related to state policies that guide energy utilities and how communities can participate in clean energy - the state's community solar law is starting to make solar more widespread.

+ Why is a Community Solar Garden helpful?

Many people in our community face high energy bills, asthma, and unemployment. Solar can cut energy costs and air pollution while creating local jobs. However, many people can’t put up solar on their own homes because they rent, have a shaded home, or can’t afford it. Community Solar Gardens (CSGs) make solar affordable by building a large solar array on a sunny roof or open area, reducing the cost for each subscriber. CSGs can also make solar available to anyone who pays an electric bill, allowing renters, homeowners, businesses, and organizations to subscribe for solar power that is not located on their home.

+ Who can subscribe?

To subscribe, you need to:

• Live in the same or adjacent county as the solar garden. You do not need to live adjacent to the solar garden, or even nearby.
• Pay an electricity bill to Xcel Energy, the utility that is required by state law to provide bill credits. Renters, homeowners, businesses, non-profits, and local government entities like schools or park buildings can all participate if they pay an electric bill.
• If your landlord pays the electric bill, you can get them to subscribe for you.

+ What does subscribing mean? What do you get from subscribing?

When you subscribe, you will sign up a fixed percentage of the output of the community solar garden that is based on your past energy use. Most subscribers will sign up for a quantity of solar that is expected to produce 120% of your historic use - the maximum allowed under state law. This will provide the deepest financial savings, and get you as close as possible to zeroing out your electric bill. The average Minnesota household subscribes for in the range of 4-8kW of solar to offset their annual electriity usage.

You will not need to resize your subscription if your energy usage changes, though you will need to resize based on your new household usage if you move. This means that that if you reduce your energy use after subscribing, you can reduce your utility bill closer to zero, or even get Xcel to send you a check for what they owe you at the end of the year. On the other hand, if your energy usage goes up, your community solar subscription will not cover as much of your Xcel Energy electric costs.

Xcel Energy is required to pay a bill credit to all community solar subscribers, but the type of bill credit varies based on when the community solar garden was developed:

• For subscribers in CSGs proposed before 2017, including all of CEF's first 8 CSG (Shiloh, Edina, Clarks Grove, Pax Christi, Haven, Ramp A, Waseca, and Faribault), subscribers are paid the Applicable Retail Rate (more or less the same rate you pay to Xcel) plus a $0.02-$0.03/kWh adder. This rate changes every year as utility rates change, and for 2021 is $0.158/kWh for residential subscribers in our larger gardens, and $0.01/kWh more in smaller gardens
• For subscribers in CSGs proposed after 2017, including all new CEF projects, subscribers are compensated based on the Value of Solar, which sets a 25-year compensation schedule for each "vintage year" of project. CEF's current 7 new projects have all qualified for the 2020 Value of Solar, which includes a $0.015/kWh Residential Adder for residential customers. Residents subscriibing to this project will receive $0.109/kWh as a bill credit, with the bill credit rising by ~2.25%/yr.

+ How will the credits show up on my bill if I have Averaged Monthly Payment?

Some Xcel Energy Customers choose to pay the same amount every month based on their historical average under the Averaged Monthly Payment (AMP) program. In early 2017, Xcel clarified that community solar garden bill credits would not be applied to AMP monthly payments immediately, because the monthly payments are calculated based on the previous year’s usage, whereas community solar bill credits only affect current usage (which will be used to calculate average monthly payments next year). Unfortunately, this means that customers on the AMP plan will likely not see any subscription benefits during the first year of their subscription unless Xcel decided (at their discretion) to adjust average monthly bills downward based on lower usage before the year is over. This would mean that during the first year, a subscriber on the AMP plan would pay their normal average monthly Xcel bill AND their CEF subscription payments, but would not see any bill credits until the end of the first year, a substantial temporary increase in energy costs. In year 2, the much lower net usage should result in near-zero averaged monthly payments. For more details on this issue, review Xcel’s response on this issue on page 2 of their subscriber FAQ.

CEF recommends that any subscribers who are on Xcel’s averaged monthly payment plan end their usage of AMP during the first year they are a community solar subscriber to better match their energy payments and their subscription savings. It currently looks like it would be safe to re-enroll in the AMP plan for years 2-25 of the community solar garden subscription once the average monthly payment to Xcel has dropped substantially after accounting for the bill credits in year 1.

+ What are the options for subscribing, what do they cost, and what will we save?

There are two options for subscribing:

1. Subscribe pay-as-you-go: In this option, you pay monthly for the actual energy produced by your portion of the solar garden. The subscription payment will start off saving you roughly 6% of the value of your bill credits in year 1, and the savings will increase each year. The average savings on energy costs over the 25 year project life is over 15%. This option is very similar to paying your electric bill.

2. Subscribe upfront: In this scenario you pay one-time for your subscription. The amount you pay upfront will depend on your subscription size, but for an average home, expect an upfront payment around $8,000-$15,000. This cost is roughly 65% of what it would cost to install an equivalent solar array on your own home. Once you are subscribed, you will get energy for 25 years without making monthly payments (there is an annual fee of $30/kW/year). This option is basically like pre-buying 25 years or energy for the price of 10-12 years of energy – and you save much more over the long-run than when subscribing pay-as-you go.

The pay-as-you-go model delivers less savings overall but spreads it out so you don’t need to pay anything upfront. The upfront model delivers more savings overall, but requires a large initial investment.

+ What if I move? What happens to my subscription?

One of the benefits of community solar is that you don’t lose your value if you move. If the location you move to is still eligible (served by Xcel and in the same or a neighboring county as your solar garden), you can take your subscription with you and apply it to your electric bill at the new address (it will require a resize). If you leave the area and are no longer eligible, you can transfer your subscription to someone else or the co-op can do it for you.

+ How is this benefiting the community?

Community solar gardens reduce energy costs for participating households, keeping more of our energy dollars in the community. After the initial energy savings, subscribers also benefit as member-owners of CEF through prifit distributions, building community wealth. In addition, CEF employs local residents to build and maintain community solar gardens, including providing low-income people and people of color with on-the-job training to be able to install more solar arrays in the future. The project will also reduce dependency on dirty energy, the leading cause of asthma and several other health threats and the primary driver of climate change, which causes heat waves and severe storms that damage our communities and health.

+ How do we know the community is getting the benefit?

Unlike many other developers, our community solar gardens will be developed, owned, and operated by a democratically controlled member-owned business, Cooperative Energy Futures. Everyone who subscribes will become a member of Cooperative Energy Futures. Members control the organization by voting and running for the Board of Directors and can set the direction for the organization by participating in optional member meetings. It is a democratic organization governed by 1-member, 1-vote. As a cooperative, members also share in the profits the co-op generates through a combination of cash savings and long-term equity accounts.

Currently, our energy dollars - paid via our utility bills - make money for utility shareholders through their investments in power plants and power lines that cause health, environmental, and economic problems for our community. Through a cooperative community solar garden, we redirect our energy dollars to create community solutions that make money together.

+ Where can I learn more?

Looking for independent information about community solar?

The Clean Energy Resource Teams, an independent, state-supported partnership, provides useful background information about community solar for subscribers and communities: https://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/solargardens

Xcel Energy’s program description is available at: https://mn.my.xcelenergy.com/s/renewable/solar-rewards-community