Editor’s note: the following press release was submitted to the Patriot by the City of Becker.

The City of Becker has reached an agreement with Xcel Energy on modifications to the footprint of Xcel’s proposed Sherco Solar project. 

Under the agreement, approximately 250 acres of land abutting the city’s western and eastern boundaries will be removed from the project. 

The agreement, approved by the Becker City Council on April 5 and filed with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) the next day, comes ahead of important public hearings this week before an Administrative Law Judge tasked with receiving evidence and making a recommendation to the PUC on whether to issue site and route permits for Sherco Solar. The city had sought this modification to the project footprint in proceedings before the  PUC to create opportunities for much needed new commercial or industrial development during the lifespan of the project. 

“I am pleased that Xcel Energy has accommodated the city’s request that the most attractive parcels for development in closest proximity to the city’s municipal boundaries be excluded from the Sherco Solar project,” said Becker Interim Administrator Jeff O’Neill in a filing with the PUC. 

As the longstanding host community for Xcel’s Sherco coal fired facility, the largest taxpayer in the city, Becker values its partnership with Xcel and understands the challenges it faces. The city appreciates Xcel’s corporate goal of diversifying its fuel source plan but raised concerns when the proposed size and location of Sherco Solar absorbed industrial land necessary for the city to diversify its economic base. As a result of Xcel’ s agreement to remove 250 acres from the project site, the City of Becker has removed its objection to this project. 

Just as Xcel must transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, the city must transition its economy from a dependence on tax revenues generated by Sherco to a more diversified economy with a broader commercial base. The city, the state and Xcel have partnered on a project to develop the Becker Business Park with the potential for a large data center to be the first of multiple new projects to locate in it; but more work is needed to mitigate the impacts ofSherco’s closure on the city and the local economy. 

“Sherco Solar brings two important policy objectives into tension: investing in more sustainable energy generation and cultivating economic development,” said Becker Mayor Tracy Bertram. “The agreement to exclude this property from the solar project will better balance Xcel’s and the state’s important interests in developing sustainable energy sources with the need to grow the local and state economies.” 

In reaching agreement with Xcel, the city is sensitive to the rights of the property owners in and around the proposed Sherco Solar project. In their joint filing to the PUC, Xcel and the city observed that “the removal of these lands from utility scale solar development does not determine what these landowners may choose to do with their property within the confines of local, state, and federal rules and regulations.” 

“The city looks forward to continued cooperation with Xcel and local property owners on important company, city and private projects affecting the Becker community,” concluded Bertram.