Minnesota Models How to Cultivate Equitable Community Solar | Article

Credit: Minneapolis Climate Action

In May, the Minnesota Legislature updated the state’s community solar program to require that projects prioritize lower-income communities. In Minneapolis, two community solar gardens are already demonstrating the positive potential of equity-focused community solar.

Not everyone can install rooftop solar panels. Renting your home, living in a home with a shaded roof, and the steep upfront costs of installing panels all create barriers. Community solar gardens, large solar arrays located in sunny areas that are supported by multiple subscribers, provide a more accessible alternative. As the energy produced by a community solar garden feeds into the electricity grid, its subscribers receive credits proportional to their share of the garden on their monthly electricity bills.

This past June, a grassroots partnership of Minneapolis-based organizations installed a 182.8-kilowatt community solar garden on the roof of EMERGE Second Chance Recycling, a social enterprise that employs people who were formerly incarcerated. The solar panels now power the recycling facility as well as the garden’s 42 residential subscribers.

The same partnership installed a community solar garden on the roof of North Community High School in 2020 that is currently awaiting connection to the grid. The partnership hopes to have the garden up and running in the fall of 2023 after years of battling interconnection delays from Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest investor-owned utility. Once operational, 36 of the approximately 365 kilowatts produced by the panels will cover the high school’s energy needs and the remaining kilowatts will be credited to the garden’s 50 residential subscribers. North Community High School is located at the heart of Minneapolis’s Northside Green Zone, a group of neighborhoods that experience high levels of environmental pollution and racial, economic, and political marginalization. The majority BIPOC neighborhood also faces contamination from nearby industrial facilities and highways.

Community leaders hope that this project will advance equity and energy democracy (the collective control of individuals and communities over energy production and distribution).

“We're really looking to create [community solar] models that, of course, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but that also bring in that story of energy democracy, environmental justice, and environmental racism,” said Kyle Samejima, executive director of Minneapolis Climate Action, one of the primary organizations in the partnership.

According to Samejima, the majority of subscribers to the North High School solar garden are residents of north Minneapolis as well as low- and moderate-income (LMI), meaning their income is less than 80 percent of the area’s median family income. The savings that result from a subscription to a community solar garden are most impactful for low-income households since they face energy burdens that are on average three times larger than that of non-low-income households. A household's energy burden is the percentage of its income spent on energy, and the average LMI household's burden is 8.6 percent according to the Department of Energy.

“A lot of times when a community solar garden is constructed, the people that are the most community solar-savvy are the ones that are going to respond right away… they're going to sign up and they'll be the first to invest,” said Kristel Porter, executive director of the nonprofit Minnesota Renewable Now. “Unfortunately, folks that are more savvy and tapped-in tend to not match the people who need it the most.”

To ensure that lower income residents in north Minneapolis were informed of the opportunity to subscribe, Minnesota Renewable Now and other local community organizations assisted with outreach and spent over a year hosting workshops, door-knocking, and tabling at events.

The structure of the EMERGE Second Chance Recycling and North High School solar gardens ensures financial accessibility. Subscribers are not required to undergo a credit check and can choose a pay-as-you-go option that requires no upfront costs. Although both solar gardens are currently fully subscribed, the partnership keeps a ranked waitlist that prioritizes people who are LMI, residents of surrounding communities, BIPOC, or alumni of North High School. If a subscriber no longer wishes to belong to the garden, they can transfer their subscription to a person on the waiting list with no financial consequences.

“[The North High School community solar garden] creates equity through renewable energy, but it also gives people a sense of pride and ownership which is something that our community definitely needs more of,” said Porter.

The founding partnership includes Go Solar Construction and Renewable Energy Partners, two local and Black-owned solar companies that developed and installed the solar gardens. Renewable Energy Partners provides workshops and training in north Minneapolis with the goal of diversifying the solar workforce.

Credit: Minneapolis Climate Action

Although the projects were initiated and led by grassroots Minneapolis organizations, they were made possible by Minnesota’s community solar garden program. The program began in 2013 when the Minnesota Legislature required Xcel Energy to implement a community solar program. As of 2023, there were 467 community solar projects completed through the program, plus others awaiting connection. Minnesota now has 869 megawatts of community solar installed statewide and one of the longest-running programs in the nation.

However, despite the program’s success, it has long lacked structural measures to ensure that the benefits of community solar are distributed equitably. That changed when Governor Tim Walz signed the Environment, Natural Resources, Climate and Energy Omnibus Bill (H.F. 2310) into law on May 24. As part of a broader package of environmental policy and financial measures, the bill modifies the statewide community solar program to prioritize equity and accessibility.

Under the new rules, a community solar project in Minnesota must set aside 30 percent of its capacity for LMI subscribers. The compensation rate, which determines how much each subscriber is credited on their monthly energy bill, is now structured so low-income subscribers earn the most. Residential LMI subscribers receive a bill credit worth 100 percent of the solar retail rate, while non-LMI residential subscribers receive one worth 85 percent. Additionally, projects must ensure that LMI subscribers experience at least 10 percent in savings between the expense of their subscription and the earnings from their bill credits.

Going forward, equity-centered approaches similar to that of the EMERGE Second Chance Recycling and North High School solar gardens will be standard for new community solar projects across Minnesota.

Nineteen other states have enacted community solar legislation, but many are still in the initial years of implementation. As solar continues to boom across the country due to increased demand and funding as well as lower costs, Minnesota provides a model for how a statewide program can prioritize equity and access.

Author: Mariko Yatsuhashi