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MONTEVIDEO — The Minnesota Valley Cooperative Power and Light Association is asking the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to reconsider its decision involving a solar array for the Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort.
In a 51-page filing submitted Oct. 16, the cooperative asks the commission to reconsider or vacate the order it issued on Oct. 8. It requires the cooperative to allow the Upper Sioux Community to operate a behind-the-meter, 2.5 megawatts solar array with battery storage.
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Minnesota Valley had threatened to discontinue electrical service to Prairie’s Edge if the system was activated. It violates a board policy prohibiting cooperative members from producing more than 40 kilowatts of power. Any power over 40 kilowatts must be exported out of the service territory, according to the policy.
The Upper Sioux Community brought a complaint to the PUC over the issue. The commission determined that the PUC had jurisdiction, and issued the order based on the recommendations of Administrative Law Judge Joseph C. Meyer to allow the system’s operation pending an engineering analysis for safety purposes.
Minnesota Valley’s attorney, Matthew Haugen, told the commission that the cooperative would abide by the order but would likely appeal it in the district court.
The petition challenges the commission’s decision as being based on “erroneous finding of facts and conclusions of law, misstatements and misapplication of the law…” The petition argues that the order violates the cooperative’s constitutional rights under the federal and state constitutions and is arbitrary and capricious.
The cooperative maintains that the PUC does not have authority over a cooperative. State law “expressly and unambiguously assigns jurisdiction over disputes between cooperatives and their members” to cooperatives’ boards of directors, according to the petition.
Cooperatives that have adopted a dispute resolution — as Minnesota Valley has — are not subject to PUC jurisdiction, according to the petition.
The cooperative also charges that the solar array will produce more energy than Prairie’s Edge uses, leaving the cooperative providing stand-by power to Prairie’s Edge.
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The Upper Sioux Community denies that claim and states it will provide about 30% of energy needs. The cooperative indicated it may seek to recover its fixed costs associated with the solar array operations. It states that the “safety and financial soundness of Minnesota Valley are reasonable, legitimate justification” for the board policy setting limits on generation by members.
The petition also asks that the PUC strike language from the order that states the cooperative’s compensation to its general manager is more than half a million dollars in base pay, while most cooperatives, in contrast, provide base pay ranging from just over $100,000 to $225,000.
In a three-page response submitted Oct. 26, the Upper Sioux Community requests that the commission deny the cooperative’s petition for reconsideration. Attorney Joshua Peterson representing the Upper Sioux stated in the response that the cooperative met none of the grounds for reconsideration. A petition needs to raise new issues or new and relevant evidence, expose errors or ambiguities, or otherwise persuade the commission to rethink its decision, according to the response.
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