Minnesota Public Utilities Commission staff is recommending that the commission at its Oct. 24 meeting terminate a December 2011 approval of a site permit for the 44-MW Shell Rock Wind Farm LLC project in Freeborn County, Minn.
On June 12, the state Department of Commerce filed a letter with the commission detailing its periodic review of the unused site permit. In its letter, the department noted that the project has not been constructed, and that the permittee is required to notify the commission by Dec. 14, 2013, of the reasons construction has not commenced, staff noted in an Oct. 14 briefing memo for the commission.
On Aug. 23, the permittee filed a letter in response to the department’s compliance review indicating that a lengthy generator interconnection process and high estimated interconnection costs have made the project impraticable. The company indicated that it has withdrawn from the Midcontinent ISO process and requested that the site permit be revoked without prejudice.
