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Letter of Support -Renewable Energy Development at Minnesota Closed Landfills <br />Letter of State-Wide, Regional, and National Support <br /> <br />January 1, 2019 <br />To Whom It May Concern: <br />My name is Cameran Bailey and I serve as the Solar Policy & Planning Advisor to the Metropolitan <br />Council and the SolSmart Program in the Twin Cities Metro. I have aggregated a state-wide, regional, <br />and national team of public and non-profit solar and energy professionals to support an initiative <br />-free professional, <br />technical, financial, and regulatory expertise and analysis to assist local governments across Minnesota <br />develop renewable energy projects on closed landfills. The desired outcomes of this initiative are to: <br />Bring redevelopment potential to land that is otherwise undevelopable <br /> <br />Bring value-adding economic redevelopment to the local governments (townships, cities, <br />counties) and their communities, which stand to benefit from such developments <br /> <br />Make Minnesota a national leader in solar construction on landfills, showcasing how these <br />projects can save money, create jobs, and partially mitigate environmental impacts from <br />landfills <br /> <br />Bring these savings and benefits to ALL of Minnesota. By demonstrating success in your <br />community, other counties, utilities, and municipalities can replicate the process <br /> <br />Guide national and state policies and incentives to support renewable energy redevelopment <br />projects on landfills, brownfields, superfund sites, other contaminated lands with the MPCA <br /> <br />Many brownfield sites have limited funding for remediation, do not have the capacity to assess <br />s can motivate action and bring <br />resources to sites that may otherwise be neglected <br /> <br />Developing projects on brownfield sites can result in regular site maintenance that is paid for by <br />the project, rather than maintenance costs being a burden on local taxpayers <br /> <br />As of October 2017, there are over 150 solar and wind projects on landfill sites across the country, <br />providing benefits to their communities. Installations provide clean energy and often electricity cost <br />savings to local residents and businesses. Depending upon the arrangement, projects can generate lease <br />payments for the owners, taxes to the municipality and environmental benefits over traditional sources <br />of electricity. These projects are located in 28 states with the relevant regulatory authority (usually the <br />with the landfill and the continued protectiveness of the landfill cap and closure. <br />As of today, we have 11 sites across the state (Fig. 1) where the applicable local government has told us <br />they are interested in our team assessing the technical, financial, and regulatory feasibility of renewable <br />energy development on their closed landfill: <br />1.Becker County; 1972-1998 9 6.City of Hopkins; 1964-1980 <br />2.Scott County 1971-1990 7.City of Albert Lea; 1965-1993 <br />3.Kummer County 8.City of Medina; 1960-1993 <br />4.City of Duluth; 1965-2001 9.City of Eden Prairie; ??-1986 <br />10.Oronoco Township <br />5.City of Ramsey; 1972-1993 <br /> <br />