Vue Lee spent $133 less on his electric bill this February than he did in February 2024.
The savings mean a lot to Lee. He lives in Brooklyn Park and has what he calls a “typical Asian family,” with an adult daughter and grandchildren also living under his roof. The extra money can go to groceries or family fun.
“I can spend more on the grandkids,” Lee said.
Those savings are the result of subscribing to a community solar garden. Lee receives monthly credits on his Xcel bill for energy produced on panels that he essentially leases. He is a member of Cooperative Energy Futures, a solar firm whose subscribers participate in organizational decisions.
Community solar gardens started with a 2013 state law and sparked the growth of solar in Minnesota. The program allowed third-party developers to build mid-sized solar arrays in Xcel territory. Subscribers receive credits for the energy produced for the grid. Minnesota’s original program was considered a national leader, but was criticized for not prioritizing residential customers and low-income households.
The program was revamped by a new state law in 2023 that sought to direct it toward low- and moderate-income residential customers and to cap the amount of solar that could be installed each year. The overhauled program is still in its early stages.
But now a newly proposed bipartisan bill seeks to end it.
The bill, which aims to sunset the community solar garden program in 2028, had hearings in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature last week.
Senator Nick Frentz, DFL-Mankato, who chairs the Energy, Utilities, Environment and Climate Committee, wrote the bill. He says the program was successful, but has outlived its usefulness and argues that Xcel customers who aren’t subscribed to the program have to pay for it by subsidizing an expensive form of energy generation.
“Those costs have grown beyond their useful life,” Frentz said.
‘Let the experiment run’
The Minnesota Department of Commerce, which now oversees the community solar program, disagrees. The department released a December 2024 report projecting a $2.9 billion net benefit to Minnesota residents from the program. It adds a 2 to 3% increase to the bills of Xcel customers who are not subscribers and not considered low to moderate income, according to the report. Ending the program in 2028 would be premature, argued Commerce Department Deputy Commissioner for Energy Pete Wyckoff.
The average community solar subscriber saves 10 to 20% each month after paying a subscription fee.
The new community solar program has about 81 megawatts of capacity online today, Wyckoff said, over 60% of which flows to low- and moderate-income households. The energy is needed for Minnesota to meet its clean-energy goals and to help ease energy costs for people who can’t install rooftop solar, like renters, he said.
Minnesota’s 2023 law caps the amount of energy that can be built at community solar gardens each year. Currently, the program allows for 100 megawatts, enough to power roughly 16,400 homes, to be approved each year, but the amount gradually decreases to just 60 megawatts in 2031 and thereafter. Capping the program’s growth was a goal for Xcel Energy.
“We urge you to let the experiment you started in 2023 run,” Wyckoff said.
Frentz was joined by all Republican committee members and two fellow Democrats in backing the bill, which is likely to be voted on by the full state Senate. The legislation has a harder path in the House of Representatives, where it is being carried by Representative Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, who co-chairs the Energy, Finance and Policy Committee.
“The price of solar is being driven down by the market and it’s time for the state of Minnesota to get out of the way,” Swedzinski said.
House Democrats have generally voiced opposition to the bill. Representative Patty Acomb, DFL-Minnetonka, said she thought the Commerce Department report was positive and disagrees with ending the program. Acomb and Swedzinski co-chair the Energy, Finance and Policy Committee due to the tie between Republicans and Democrats.
“We can all feel rest assured that this will not be making it into any omnibus bill coming out of this committee,” Acomb said.
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Xcel Energy lobbyist Rick Evans was the only testifier in support of the bill in either chamber. Xcel is required to buy all energy provided by community solar gardens, he said, and the cost of buying that power is more expensive than other renewable sources.
“The reforms of 2023 improved the program in some ways, but solar garden energy is an expensive resource and still places stress on our grid,” Evans said.
A host of environmental groups and solar firms spoke out against the bill, arguing that the program brings needed clean energy online and allows more people to save on monthly bills.
‘Who doesn’t like saving money?’
Vue Lee, the community solar subscriber in Brooklyn Park, said he’s shared the positive impact of community solar with family and other members of the Hmong community. It’s an easy way to benefit from solar, he said. Lee had run the numbers and thought it would take too long to break even on a rooftop array for his house, but joining a community garden brought savings right away.
He’s only been receiving bill credits for a few months, but his January bill was $45 less than last year’s and his $133 February savings felt good.
“Who doesn’t like saving money?” he said.
Cooperative Energy Futures goes out of its way to sign up the type of low- and moderate-income customers targeted in the community solar program. The coop partnered with Osman Ahmed, who runs Prosperity for New America, a south Minneapolis nonprofit that focuses on literacy in the Somali community.
When children come in for reading help, Osman talks to their families about other needs. He asks about monthly energy bills, which he said is a great hook into environmental issues. That gets people interested, and he has had several families sign up for a new community solar garden coming online at Allina’s Midtown building in south Minneapolis.
“They’re helping the environment, they’re helping themselves, they’re helping their children’s future,” Osman said.
Rukia Abdi does outreach and community engagement work at Cooperative Energy Futures. She used to work at Hennepin County’s Community Action Partnership agency, where she helped families sign up for energy assistance programs and would see alarmingly high bills. Subscribing to community solar is one way for low-income households to offset costs, she said.
Many people in the Somali community are aware of solar benefits, but also are initially skeptical that such a program can work in Minnesota’s cold climate, she said. Rukia began subscribing to a community solar garden last August, and her best recruitment strategy is to show people her own energy bills.
“Everything is expensive and getting harder to afford,’” she said.
