Otter Tail receives MPUC approval on integrated resource plan

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Otter Tail Power’s, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Otter Tail Corporation, resource plan containing many elements of the settlement between Otter Tail Power and other parties filed April 2, 2024, in the company’s 2022-2036 Integrated Resource Plan docket. The MPUC decision: Allows Otter Tail Power to retain the reliability benefits of Coyote Station while running the portion of the plant used to serve the company’s Minnesota customers for emergency purposes only. This will begin as soon as June 1, 2026, and end no later than 2031. At that time, the company’s Minnesota customers will no longer use the capacity of or energy from Coyote Station. The MPUC’s decision doesn’t require the company to withdraw from Coyote Station or change how the company operates Coyote Station to serve its North Dakota and South Dakota customers, even beyond 2031. Allows the company to begin creating project plans for replacement energy for the portion of Coyote Station used to serve the company’s Minnesota customers-and allows the company to make progress toward the Minnesota Carbon Free standard. Otter Tail Power will develop plans for 200 to 300 MW of solar resources, 150 to 200 MW of wind resources, and 20 to 75 MW of battery storage to be commercially operational between now and the end of 2029. Recognizes Otter Tail’s proposal to add on-site liquefied natural gas storage at its Astoria Station natural gas facility, a shared resource across the company’s three-state service area, is reasonable and prudent to protect system reliability and provide price protection for the company’s Minnesota customers. This recognition takes the company one step farther in the regulatory process to add on-site fuel at Astoria Station.