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office of Minnesota Office of Energy Security ; >a+ ecur M1linrw«ulDry urlm«nt ut Camm...c« FACT SHEET How to Participate in the Energy Facility Permitting Process: An Overview The permitting processes for energy facilities in Minnesota include multiple opportunities for public participation. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) relies on public participation in making its facility siting and routing decisions. The permitting process for a specific energy facility depends on the type and size of the project. Permitting processes for general types of facilities, e.g., transmission lines, are described on the PUC Energy Facilities webpage, http://energvfacilities.puc.state.mn.us/. These descriptions include flowcharts and applicable statutes and rules. Project Dockets Within the statutes and rules, there are common themes and tools to participate in almost all permitting processes. All processes start when an applicant applies to the PUC for a site or route permit. The application is assigned a docket number and a project docket is opened. The docket is expressed as a year and four digit ID number, e.g., 09 -1234. This docket is a place to organize and view the important documents of the permitting process. You can download and read documents. You can follow the permitting process as it unfolds. There are two ways to access and view project dockets. You can view projects dockets on the PUC Energy Facilities webpage, http://energyfacilities.puc.state.mn.us/. You can also view dockets through the Department of Commerce eDockets webpage, https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFilino/search.jsp. Meeting Notices Acceptance of an application by the PUC triggers an environmental review process. This process includes public meetings to discuss the project and develop the scope of the environmental review. Notice is given of when and where meetings will take place. A list of upcoming meetings is on the Energy Facilities webpage. If you're interested in a specific energy facility project, you can sign up to receive notices by mail. The sign up is on the Energy Facilities webpage; click on "Get on a Mailing List." There are two primary mailing lists: (1) The mailing list for PUC power plants and transmission lines (general contact list), and (2)The individual project mailing lists (project contact list). Folks on the general contact list get notices of ALL project applications. This can be a lot of mail! So, be sure you want to be on the list before you sign up. Folks on the project contact list, get notices that apply only to specific projects. Additionally, folks on the project contact list get notices throughout the permitting process; those persons on the general list get only the initial notice. So, if you want to follow along with a project--- sign up for the project contact list! If you prefer email to regular mail, you can sign up for Real Simply Syndication (RSS) feeds on the Energy Facilities webpage or email notification on the eDockets webpage. Finally, notice of public meetings is always published in a local newspaper. So, you can keep an eye out for upcoming meetings by being a regular newspaper reader. Version 4.0 1