State authorities have criticized a Minnesota utility company's threat to shut down the Prairie's Edge Casino Resort if its owner, the Upper Sioux Community, activates a new solar panel system.

At 2.5 megawatts, the tribe's solar array significantly surpasses the 40-kilowatt maximum permitted by the Minnesota Valley, according to the Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light and Power Association, a small company that supplies the western portion of the state.  If it activates the system, it has threatened to switch off the casino's electricity.

However, the Upper Sioux claim that since the system will only serve the casino and not pump electricity back into the grid, the utility's regulations shouldn't be applicable, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Tribe Makes Energy Rights Claims

The multimillion-dollar solar array was constructed by the tribe to reduce electricity costs and support sustainable energy, and they estimate it will provide about 30% of the casino's power requirements.

Usually serving places that larger, for-profit energy firms don't, Minnesota Valley is a rural electric cooperative, a nonprofit company owned by its members.

These cooperatives are widespread in low-density areas of the United States.  According to Minnesota Valley, there are regulations that restrict the size of a solar system that connects to its electricity lines. These regulations are based on both state and federal legislation.  However, the tribe contends that because it is a sovereign nation, Minnesota's utility regulations do not apply to it.

It filed a complaint with the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which unanimously supported the tribe during a hearing on July 24.  Commissioners even threatened to completely remove the cooperative's ability to service the Upper Sioux, potentially substituting a bigger supplier like Xcel Energy.

Regulators React

A number of commissioners noted that individuals who depend on air conditioning or medical equipment may be put in risk if power is interrupted to a public building, including a casino.  "Outrageous" is how Commissioner Joe Sullivan described the utility's action.

According to the Star Tribune, Audrey Partridge, another, stated that the cooperative had "lost [its] tether to the purpose of an electric utility" and that it was "its privilege to serve" its members rather than "be adversarial and unreasonable to them."

John Tuma, a Republican commissioner, questioned if Minnesota Valley believed it "had a patent on electricity."

"That’s what it sounds like … and if these guys go ahead and produce some electricity behind the scenes, they can’t do it unless they come and ask your blessing to use it?” he asked. “No, you have a duty to serve.”

In addition to asking the state's legal staff to take action to keep the cooperative from cutting off energy while the problem is being investigated, the PUC voted 4-0 to look into the situation.