Rochester City Council to Vote on $100K Energy Rebate Pilot Program

Rochester, MN (RochesterNow)- The Rochester City Council is scheduled to vote on whether or not to launch a pilot program involving energy efficiency rebates. 

See Also: Rochester City Council to Hear Appeal Over Historic Buildings Project 

The potential program stems from a previous effort by the city to explore 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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Rochester City Council to Consider Launching Energy Rebate Pilot Program

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. 

Read More: Rochester Staff Recommends Shelving Natural Gas Franchise Fee

The pilot program would be funded by $100,000 of Council Contingency funds. The proposal uses $75,000 to fund rebates for residential energy improvement projects. 

City of Rochester

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 set to be shown to the council says. 

Proposed Rebate Structure

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 of Rochester

The pilot program would launch next year if it wins council approval. 

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