Dive Brief:

• Xcel Energy plans to issue a 150-MW utility-scale solar solicitation next month to meet a new Minnesota law that requires utilities to get 1.5% of their energy from solar by 2020, according to a filing with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
• Xcel estimates it will need about 300 MW of solar to meet the requirement and expects utility-scale solar to meet two-thirds of the target.
• Currently, installed residential solar costs $4.72/W on average while utility-scale solar costs $2.04/W, according to Xcel.

Dive Insight:

Xcel aims to focus on utility-scale solar in Minnesota because it's about half the price of rooftop solar.

“Our goal is to develop a solar compliance portfolio that maximizes customer value, offers new customer choices, and balances the interests of all customers,” Xcel said in the PUC filing. “To deliver on these goals, we will leverage the economics of large-scale systems to keep the cost of compliance as low as possible for our customers.”