Review of MN Brightfields Workshop on the Potential of Solar Development at the Closed Landfill Site

As the Board knows, the City hosted a workshop on July 17-18 focused on development of solar energy systems on Closed Landfill Sites across the state and more specifically, the Closed Landfill Site (CLS) in Ramsey, located west of Sunfish Lake Blvd, north of Sunwood Drive, and south of Alpine Park.  The workshop was organized by Metropolitan Council staff in response to Ramsey's Closed Landfill Site being selected by the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) Brownfields Technical Assistance Program for further analysis (at no cost to the City).  The intention of the workshop was to explore what potential obstacles there may be to developing solar on a CLS and identify possible solutions.  The workshop also included a site visit to Ramsey's CLS (photos attached).
 

There were a wide range of state agencies and organizations that participated in this workshop (a list of organizations that attended is attached to this case).  One of the biggest takeaways from this workshop was the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MCPA) openness to finding a pathway to allow solar development on not only this CLS, but all of their closed landfills throughout the state (about forty-five [45] in all).  In fact, they even expressed a willingness to explore the potential of allowing solar development on the 'cap' of closed landfills (the 'hill' portion of a landfill).

The combination of solar developers, Connexus Energy, and MPCA staff was really beneficial during the site visit of the CLS.  While the cap may present the greatest opportunity to capture sunlight, it also comes with the greatest risk and cost.  Additionally, the available load to add to the distribution system (power lines) is really limited to somewhere about 8 megawatts, anything more would require routing through transmission lines, which further increases costs (this is specific to the Ramsey CLS).

Minnesota is unique in terms of how it addresses closed landfills.  In the mid 1990s, the legislature adopted the Landfill Cleanup Act, which essentially put the responsibility for properly closing landfills under the guidance of the MPCA.  General Obligation (GO) bonds were issued to fund necessary work at closed landfills to mitigate risk to the public and the environment.  However, there were stipulations with the GO bonds that preclude 'private activities' from occurring on land where GO bonds were used to conduct work.  That has proven to be a significant challenge to any sort of development of closed landfill sites.

Due to the restrictions related to the GO bonds, as well as the cost and risk implications associated with solar development on the landfill cap, an area in the southeast portion of the CLS was honed in on by the group.  The area is approximately twenty to twenty-five (20-25) acres in size, and there has been no work done with GO bonds in this area.  The MPCA expressed interest in possibly splitting this portion of land off (e.g. subdivision) from the rest of the CLS to eliminate any GO bond restrictions.  This could 'open the door' to solar development on this parcel.

The CDFA will be developing a report for both the City and the Metropolitan Council as a result of this workshop.  Their main focus is funding options/strategies should a solar development proposal come forward.  Since this land is owned by the State of Minnesota, there is no property tax collected presently.  However, there would be a slight economic benefit to the City should solar development occur.  This would come from the Minnesota Solar Energy Production Tax, which would collect $1.20 per megawatt (MW) hour of generation.   That tax is split between counties (80%) and cities/townships (20%), so the City would realize some new revenue should solar ultimately be developed at the CLS.

While the majority of the CLS is zoned Public/Quasi-Public, which has provisions for solar energy systems (with the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit), several outlying areas of the CLS are zoned either E-1 Employment or R-2 Residential.  However, the MPCA had requested that the entirety of the CLS be guided as Closed Landfill.  Once the Comprehensive Plan Update is approved by the Metropolitan Council, the a new Closed Landfill zoning district will need to be created and the Zoning Map will need to be amended accordingly.  Presumably, this new zoning district would identify solar energy systems as a principal use with a Conditional Use Permit, similar to the Public/Quasi-Public district.

Overall, the workshop seemed very well received with a lot of enthusiasm from all attendees about the possibilities of utilizing CLS across the state for solar energy development.  There is a broader study that has also been funded by the state legislature for the State of Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to conduct further analysis on siting solar development and greenhouse gas mitigation on CLS across the state.  That study should be completed sometime in 2020. 

No action is necessary, this is for informational purposes only.