Interconnection Standards

June 07, 2024

Summary

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) adopted updated interconnection standards in June 2019. The standards are modeled after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Small Generator Interconnection Process and apply to systems up to 10 MW in capacity.

The MPUC standards, like the FERC standards, use a three-tiered approach to simplify the interconnection process:

Inverter Process: Systems up to 20 kilowatts (kW)
Fast Track Process: Systems larger than 20 kW that meet the eligibility criteria in the table below
Study Process: Systems that fail to qualify for the Fast Track Process

Line Voltage	Fast Track Eligible Regardless of Location	Fast Track Eligibility on a Mainline and less than 2.5 Electrical Circuit Miles from Substation
Less than 5 kV	Less than or equal to 500 kW	Less than or equal to 500 kW
Greater than or equal to 5 kV and less than 15 kV	Less than or equal to 1 MW	Less than or equal to 2 MW
Greater than or equal to 15 kV and less than 30 kV	Less than or equal to 3 MW	Less than or equal to 4 MW
Greater than or equal to 30 kV, up to 69 kV	Less than or equal to 4 MW	Less than or equal to 5 MW

Minnesota regulators issued new requirements regarding smart inverters in 2020 which became effective in 2023 and 2024; see website link for more details.

For more information, contact your utility and review the interconnection information below:

Xcel Energy - Interconnection of Distributed Generation
Minnesota Power - Interconnection Guidelines
Otter Tail Power Company - Generator Interconnection
Dakota Electric Association - Generation Interconnection

Program Overview

Implementing Sector:	State
Category:	Regulatory Policy
State:	Minnesota
Incentive Type:	Interconnection
Web Site:	https://mn.gov/puc/energy/distributed-energy/interconnection/
Administrator:
Start Date:
Eligible Renewable/Other Technologies:	Geothermal Electric Solar Thermal Electric Solar Photovoltaics Wind (All) Biomass Hydroelectric Municipal Solid Waste Combined Heat & Power Fuel Cells using Non-Renewable Fuels Landfill Gas Wind (Small) Fuel Cells using Renewable Fuels Other Distributed Generation Technologies Microturbines
Applicable Utilities:	All utilities
System Capacity Limit:	10 MW
Standard Agreement:	Yes
Insurance Requirements:	Vary by system size and/or type; levels established by PUC
External Disconnect Switch:	Required
Net Metering Required:	No

Authorities

Name:	Minn. Stat. § 216B.1611
Date Enacted:	2001

Name:	Minnesota Distributed Energy Resource Interconnection Process and Agreement
Date Enacted:	04/19/2019
Effective Date:	06/17/2019

Name:	Minn. R. 7835.4750
Date Enacted:	10/12/2015

Contact

Name:	Consumer Affairs Office
Organization:	Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
Address:	121 7th Place East, Suite 350 St. Paul MN 55101-2147
Phone:	(651) 296-0406
Email:	consumer.puc@state.mn.us

This information is sourced from DSIRE; the most comprehensive source of information on incentives and policies that support renewables and energy efficiency in the United States. Established in 1995, DSIRE is operated by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University.