Minnesota State Information

CHP Installations
No specific study has been conducted to ascertain the number of CHP installations in Minnesota. Any known installations in Minnesota are identified in our searchable database. The database provides information on the names of the plant owners or operators, plant locations and power generation capacity for each installation. If you are aware of other CHP installation sites within Minnesota, please submit the information to us with this user-friendly input form.

CHP Market Potential
One DOE study estimates total CHP market potential in Minnesota to be between 850 and 1,320 MW for the commercial/industrial sector. This represents 2 to 3% of the projected DOE long-term goal of 47 gigawatts of installed CHP capacity that was developed as part of the CHP Roadmap Workshop.

Energy Pricing
Energy pricing, for both fuel and electricity, can have significant impacts on the financial viability of CHP. Further discussions of energy pricing in Minnesota is available below and at the EIA website. Check with your local energy providers for specific pricing in your area.

CHP Partners
No specific study has been conducted to ascertain the companies in Minnesota that are engaged in CHP system applications or have CHP system capabilities. Some companies known to have CHP applications are identified in our Contact database.

Utility Contacts No specific study has been conducted to ascertain the participation of utilities within Minnesota that are engaged in CHP system applications. Any utilities known to have engaged in CHP applications are identified in our Contact database. Some direct links to utilities in Minnesota are shown in the following table.

Summary and Status of CHP Policy Issues
No specific study has been conducted to ascertain the status of regulations and permits within Minnesota that pertain to CHP system applications. The EIA provides a monthly status of electricity restructuring on a State-by-State basis. They also provide a status of the deregulation of the natural gas industry on a State-by-State basis. The state is working on developing policies relating to standards for utility tariffs for interconnection and parallel operation of CHP systems.

On February 3, 2003, the Minnesota Department of Commerce filed a final Report of its work groups regarding distributed generation with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The technical standard proposed would apply to systems up to 10 MW in size, with a simplified process for systems under 40 kW. The "rates" section report discusses calculation of avoided costs, standby rates, non-firm and standby distribution services, and credits to generators for distribution, diversity, line loss, renewable energy, reliability and emissions.

The rather lengthy document is currently unavailable electronically, but the IREC Interconnection Project will scan the report and put it online shortly.

Energy Pricing

Fuel Pricing
EIA State Data: For a link to the EIA website that discusses gas prices in Minnesota click here.

In 2000, Minnesota had 115,955 commercial customers. They consumed 129 and 96 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The average prices paid for natural gas purchased from local distribution companies by commercial customers was $5.99 per thousand cubic feet ($5.99/MMBtu). The average city gate price in the state was $4.73 per thousand cubic feet ($4.73/MMBtu).

Source: State Energy Price and Expenditure Report 1999, Table 151: Commercial Sector Energy Price and Expenditure Estimates, Selected Years 1970-1999, Minnesota

In Minnesota, the cost of electricity for commercial has shown a relative decrease over the last recorded 10 year period (1990-1999) based on information from the EIA's State Energy Price and Expenditure Report 1999. The cost of electricity to the commercial consumer has gone from 6.04 cents/kWh ($1/MBtu = 0.3413 cents/kWh) in 1990 to (6.38 cents/kWh) in 1999. However there have been some fluctuations in pricing over that period.