Dive Summary:

• New legislation introduction supported by the Minnesota Department of Commerce would amend the state's 30-year-old law limiting solar units to 40 kilowatts; the limit would be expanded to 1,000 kW or 1 megawatt.
• The proposed bills would also permit third-party financing of solar projects as an investment to inspire increased solar generation.
• In the past, utilities have opposed large-scale solar expansion, saying that the state's grid couldn't handle the excess generation sources.

From the article:

Several of the provisions are supported by clean energy and environmental groups as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Minnesota while growing jobs in the state to create energy locally rather than importing it from other nations or states. The group Minnesota 2020 in Duluth last month heralded the same proposals.

House File 956 and Senate File 901 are sponsored by Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Marty, chairs of the House and Senate Energy Policy Committees. ...