Sustainable: Minneapolis invests in fighting climate change - Finance and Commerce

Sustainable: Minneapolis invests in fighting climate change | Finance & Commerce

The city of Minneapolis’ Climate Legacy Initiative has started delivering money to organizations and programs that can help address climate change. (File photo: Bill Klotz)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed historic climate legislation last July that will more than triple the money the city invests in climate change projects.

The city’s “ Climate Legacy Initiative” has begun delivering $10 million annually, mainly to nonprofit organizations and current city programs targeting renewable energy, efficiency, tree planting, waste reduction, biochar production, electric vehicle charging, community outreach and green jobs training.

The funding comes after Minneapolis unveiled a new climate action plan that calls for the city to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Patrick Hanlon, deputy commissioner of Sustainability, Healthy Homes and the Environment for the city, said the CLI is tied to the city’s climate action and responds to a need for “really aggressive actions, especially in the next five to 10 years.”

The initiative leverages new and existing partnerships. “To hit the numbers that we need to hit for this, our strategy needs to be everything, everywhere, all at once,” he said. “We’ve got to have new partners coming to the table with new and different approaches. And then we also need to scale up with existing partners on what’s been successful here in Minneapolis.”

The legacy initiative will not impact the roughly $3 million Minneapolis spends on efficiency and environmental justice programs. But the city plans to use the money to continue investing in environmental justice neighborhoods in north and south Minneapolis, which have been heavily impacted by carbon emissions, low-income areas and cultural corridors, Hanlon said.

Regardless of income, some of the funding will also be available to all city residents for investments in efficiency and clean technologies such as air source heat pumps and water heaters.

Hanlon said part of the investment focuses on weatherization to prepare homes and smaller multifamily residences for cleaner heating and cooling systems. Businesses can seek funding for upgrades through the Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Smart program, which the city pays at the back end. For example, Cooperative Energy Futures, primarily a solar installer, now plans to conduct weatherization by recruiting homeowners block by block.

The city plans to unveil a $500,000 request for proposal to create a program to help decarbonize large commercial, industrial, nonprofit and manufacturing buildings, Hanlon said.

The city spread the $10 million among many nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity, Elevate Energy, Frontier Energy, the Lake Street Council, Tree Trust, Minnesota Waste Wise Foundation, Energy Community Development, Sabathani Community Center and around another ten organizations.

The legacy initiative is not all about efficiency and clean technology. Hanlon said the city has suffered the loss of thousands of ash trees due to emerald ash borer disease, but the grant money will go to replace them and grow the rest of the urban canopy.

Funds have been spent to buy equipment for Minneapolis’s biochar program, which bakes wood waste using a high heat to produce charcoal that absorbs carbon and acts as a soil supplement, Hanlon said.

Another priority will be training a new cadre of green workers capable of installing insulation, air source heat pump technology, solar panels and other technology. The city has been working with unions and employers to train and recruit people for clean energy careers and some of the new money will go toward that goal.

“One of the big investments is to expose young adults to green careers and then to create pathways into those careers,” he said.

The $10 million comes from a slight increase in the franchise fee that Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy pay the city in return for their use of public rights-of-way. The utilities pass along the cost to businesses and homeowners, adding $12 annually to a typical resident’s bill, Hanlon said.

The Climate Legacy Initiative money allows CEE to offer Minneapolis residents who own single-family and one- to four-unit buildings interest-free loans for home improvements related to energy, said Rebecca Olson, CEE’s senior director of residential and community energy. Secondly, CEE can now use grant funds from the city to buy down the principal on residential projects.

All residents can access a 10% discount on projects, and those who live in city-designated green zones or fall below certain income levels can receive additional financial support. She said the Minneapolis Efficiency and Loan Grant program has caps, but homeowners’ savings still could be significant.

Building owners who do not want loans can apply for grants. Olson said that Minneapolis would offer to match utility incentives for projects, which brings down costs enough that loans would not be needed. “That’s another mechanism for people to access even if they’re not going through the loan program,” she said.

The money will be available for a wide range of projects. Olson listed insulation, air sealing, heat pump water heaters and air source heat pumps for all electric and dual fuel systems. Loans and grants are available for solar, provided building owners have made envelope improvements.

The emphasis of the climate legacy programs will be on improving building envelopes to allow air source heat pumps to work more effectively in all weather, she said. “It’s a very comprehensive approach,” Olson said. “I am hoping more homeowners do this work.”

Hanlon said the legacy initiative has put Minneapolis in an excellent spot to receive another $10 million through a program promoting clean energy and clean transportation in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Challenges remain. Getting the word out to building owners is top of mind for Hanlon and CEE. Hanlon’s department will have to monitor programs to determine which are reducing carbon emissions and meeting the city’s carbon emission and waste reduction priorities.

“Each year, we’ll be evaluating to see what’s successful, what’s working well, and what is helping us hit our equity and our greenhouse gas reduction goals,” Hanlon said.