Rochester City Council Approves Energy Efficiency Rebate Program

Rochester, MN (RochesterNow)- A pilot program that would offer rebates to homeowners who make energy efficiency improvements to their homes won approval from the Rochester City Council.

The pilot program stems from a previous effort by the City of Rochester to explore implementing a natural gas franchise fee.

In January, the city announced that revenue from the potential fee would go towards funding residential and business rebates for energy efficiency improvements.

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The City Council instructed city staff in April to not move forward with a natural gas franchise fee and to instead create a pilot program involving rebates for energy efficiency upgrades.

Rochester City Council Approves Energy Efficiency Rebate Pilot Program on 5-2 Vote

The elected leaders voted 5-2 to launch the $100,000 program. City Councilmembers Shaun Palmer and Andy Friederichs voted against it.

Both cited concerns of a potential natural gas franchise fee that would be used to fund the program. The pilot program, which is set to launch next year, will use city contingency funding.

$75,000 of the $100,000 earmarked for the program will fund rebates for residential energy improvement projects.

The remaining $25,000 would be paid out in the form of grants towards “environmental stewardship-focused projects led by residents and community organizations,” a presentation shown to the council said.

City staff is proposing a limited number of rebates for four types of residential projects. The rebates range from $100 to $2,000.

The lowest dollar amount of potential rebates would be available to as many as 225 homes while the highest-dollar rebates would be limited to 10 homes. $5,000 would go towards administration of the pilot program.

City staff would evaluate the program's results next Fall then provide a recommendation to the elected leaders.