Resource: Community-based Energy Development in Minnesota

Title:	Community-based Energy Development in Minnesota
Resource type:	Program/project
Topics:	Communities, Energy, Individual Choices, Statewide/Global
Keywords:	wind energy, community energy
Audience:	All
Region:	Minnesota Statewide
Summary:	The Community-Based Energy Development initiative, passed into law by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature, seeks "to optimize local, regional, and state benefits from wind energy development, and to facilitate development of community-based wind energy projects throughout Minnesota."
Content:	The Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) initiative, passed into law by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature, seeks "to optimize local, regional, and state benefits from wind energy development, and to facilitate development of community-based wind energy projects throughout Minnesota." (See http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/216B/1612.html for the full statutory language.) C-BED specifically establishes a framework for qualifying owners of wind generation projects to negotiate Power Purchase Agreements with all Minnesota electric utilities. See http://www.c-bed.org/legislation-2007.html or http://www.c-bed.org/pdf/MN_Project_Summary_2007_Legislation.pdf for information about amendments to the C-BED legislation by the 2007 Minnesota Legislature. According to the C-BED website below, this initiative provides numerous societal and utility industry benefits, including very competitive, declining-cost renewable energy over the 20-year life of C-BED projects while also producing viable cash flows for C-BED project owners and developers. As a result of the C-BED initiative, ordinary Minnesota residents, main street business associations, local and tribal units of government, school districts, institutions of higher education, and others now have a much better opportunity to develop C-BED projects.
Website:	http://www.c-bed.org/minnesota.html
Suggested by:	Paul Moss
Added:	03/1/06
Updated:	07/22/11