S.F. No. 5395 Summary

• Public Utilities Commission must initiate a proceeding by September 1, 2024, to establish generic standards for allocating utility costs for distribution system upgrades that increase hosting capacity for distributed generation facilities.

• Cost allocation standards must ensure fair pro rata cost-sharing among distributed generation project owners based on expanded capacity used, establish minimum upgrade cost thresholds, and prevent cost allocation to ratepayers for unused upgraded capacity.

• Public Utilities Commission must establish a new full-time interconnection ombudsperson position with technical expertise to track disputes, facilitate resolution between applicants and utilities, and prepare reports on interconnection dispute outcomes.

• Electric utilities must assess and collect a $35 surcharge on each distributed generation facility interconnection application filed in Minnesota and remit the surcharge monthly to the Public Utilities Commission to fund the ombudsperson position.

• Public Utilities Commission may adjust the surcharge amount annually to ensure sufficient funding for the ombudsperson position and prevent account reserves from exceeding a specified percentage of annual position costs.