We are pleased to share that a St. Paul Green New Deal Resolution has been drafted by Sunrise Twin Cities and shared with city councilmembers. 

Sunrise TC, the local hub for a national youth climate justice movement, has also been reaching out to organizations including Community Power.    

Here is the full text of the resolution as well as the cliff notes version / outline of the resolution.    

Because the text of the Green New Deal resolution is so thorough in policy ideas, as well as in its general vision for climate justice in Saint Paul, advancing the resolution would help the city in updating its Climate Action and Resilience Plan, due later this year.

Through the Climate Legacy Initiative passed by the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor unanimously in 2023, the City is finally funding local climate action at a scale needed to build momentum toward meeting the ambitious goals the city has on paper. This means it is time for a revived nudge to city leaders to make sure renters can be included in and have access to the benefits that come with implementing the new Minneapolis Climate Equity plan. Community Power has long been bringing attention to making energy efficiency programs more accessible to renters since we held listening sessions back in 2015 with the Corcoran Neighborhood organization. 

Before sharing some Policy Ideas for the City to adopt (Coming Soon!) there are a few points to ground them in:

1) Energy efficiency is a big livability and affordability issue for renters.

2) InquilinXs UnidXs recently has had an incredible win with properties involved in AG Ellison's lawsuit

3) Inclusive Financing for Energy Efficiency could remove the upfront cost and credit barriers if it is given a chance

Every few years, Xcel Energy is required to submit a 15-year Energy Plan to the MN Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to make sure they are not overcharging customers for infrastructure that is not needed. But since Xcel also has to make the case for how they will meet our energy needs in coming years, this is where we get to see the mix of renewable versus nonrenewable energy sources the utility currently has in mind for their customers in Minnesota.  

Along with this process comes a series of public hearings for the general public to weigh in. There is a new opportunity this year! Each of the in-person hearings listed below will have an open house for informal conversation with Xcel officials for an hour prior to the listed hearing times.  

For a brief summary on what is at stake Xcel Energy announced in February that their preferred 15-year plan includes: 

• extending the 20-year operating extensions for their Prairie Island and Monticello nuclear facilities
• adding two new gas peaker plants, 2,200 MW of new gas-fired peaking generation, which will be heavily scrutinized in terms of Xcel’s ability to meet Minnesota's new carbon-free by 2040 law. 

On the renewable front Xcel's 15 year plan thus far also includes:

• 3,600 MW of new wind and solar
• 600 MW of battery storage by 2030 
• Expansion of the utility’s energy efficiency and demand response programs.

Click below to see public hearing dates and times! 

As the state's largest gas utility CenterPoint Energy is required by state law to file a Natural Gas Innovation Act Plan. Within it, CenterPoint has proposed 18 different pilot projects to make customer homes and businesses less reliant on fossil gas. While some of the pilots merit support and PUC approval (particularly Pilots L, N and I), other NGIA pilots should be opposed (Pilot P) or modified to be in the public interest.

What is at Stake? 

Because CenterPoint customers will be asked to pay for the NGIA pilots through a rider on our utility bills, it is important that we avoid Innovation Act Plan that commits customers to paying for diversionary solutions for decades. 

In 3 easy steps, you can submit a Comment by March 15th (Final Deadline May 15th). 

1: Send an email to [email protected]
2: Reference "Docket 23-215" in the subject line
3: Deadline 4:30 p.m. on 3/15/24

For a deeper guide for crafting your comments, here are some that the City of Minneapolis and the Citizens Utility Board have submitted as well as the Clean Heat Fact Sheet. 

Click below to see more.

The MN Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has gone forward with Xcel's proposal to alter the bill credit rate for subscribers to early community solar projects, with some modifications. The MN PUC also decided on a 3-cent adder for residential subscribers to solar gardens whose bill credits had been covered under the Applicable Retail Rate, which is to last for an indefinite period. The MN PUC also included a 1 cent adder for general service subscribers for one year. These changes are supposed to take effect 4/1/25. The 3-cent adder though, is not enough to make residential subscribers whole and it also no longer shadows the retail rate (what you pay the utility) which eliminates the guarantee of rate savings. The PUC order has not been posted yet but we will include the link when it does. 

For more coverage of this story:

• See Twitter thread from John Farrell, explaining the hidden conflict of interest motives behind this decision.
• See the live tweets from Community Power during the hearing.
• See the Sahan Journal Article with Community Power and partners quoted: Minnesota regulators slash reimbursement rate for community solar gardens by Andrew Hazzard, February 15, 2024 State officials say they are cutting the solar compensation to save money for Xcel customers, but solar advocates warn the change will stunt clean energy growth.