Fresh Energy Shapes Policy for a Clean Energy Economy
Fresh Energy building performance director Ben Rabe talks with ENTER about the organization’s legislative efforts at the Capitol
Interview by Sheri Hansen | June 24, 2021
Fresh Energy building performance director Ben Rabe.
FEATURE
For nearly 30 years, Fresh Energy has been shaping state and local policies and regulations in Minnesota with the goal of creating equitable, carbon-neutral economies. Through programs that focus on issues ranging from beneficial electrification and clean power to pollinators and electric cars, the nonprofit takes a comprehensive approach to slowing the impacts of climate change and speeding a clean energy future.
In its work related to the built environment, Fresh Energy has been a key partner with other energy groups and AIA Minnesota in initiatives to accelerate the pace of reviewing and updating the commercial energy code to reduce carbon emissions and energy use. ENTER checked in with Fresh Energy building performance director Ben Rabe on the group’s 2021 legislative successes and ongoing agenda.
What were Fresh Energy’s main areas of focus for the 2021 legislative session?
Our highest priority was the Hundred Percent Campaign, which will get us to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. The campaign originated with Governor Walz in 2018, and we continue to work to get policy solutions in place to get us there.
In addition, we focused on the ECO Act, which was the biggest win of the session from a climate-action standpoint. It updates the state’s Conservation Improvement Program, allows for a lot more low-income spending, and creates structure to support fuel switching. Decarbonization will require more electrification, especially in buildings, so having legislation on fuel switching is enormously important. We’ve been working on this with partners like the Center for Energy and Environment and the utilities for five years. It was great to see that legislation pass.
You’ve also been working on accelerating updates to the commercial building code for several years.
At the very end of 2018, there was some interest around the idea of pushing the B3 Sustainable Building 2030 Energy Standard (SB 2030) as a stretch code for cities around the state to adopt. In effect, SB 2030 would have become each adopting city’s baseline energy code for commercial buildings, including larger multifamily buildings. We created a bill for the legislature to consider and built up a coalition for the 2019 legislative session. At the time, many interested stakeholders were concerned that the change would result in the building industry having to navigate different codes for different jurisdictions. So, we started to explore a unified code solution.
“At Fresh Energy, we frame decarbonization in terms of electrification and efficiency, two areas where good building design can really move the needle.”
To help identify a workable solution on the stretch code, we led workshops with different cities and stakeholders. Fresh Energy, along with AIA Minnesota, the trades, builders, and others, were also members of a stakeholder group co-convened by the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Commerce to identify a way forward. The group met throughout 2019 and recommended accelerating updates to the statewide commercial energy code, with a path to net zero by 2036.
The current process allows for an update every six years, but with the urgency of the need to address climate change, the working group proposed a review every three years to get us to net zero faster. The bill that would authorize this acceleration passed out of the House and was introduced in the Senate this year, but it didn’t quite cross the legislative finish line. We and our coalition partners wil continue to work to advance the bill in the 2022 session.
What else is on the horizon for 2022?
Two areas of focus for us as we look ahead to 2022 are the federal dollars that have come into the state through the American Rescue Plan and the potential infrastructure appropriation currently being negotiated by Congress. We see these as opportunities to increase energy-efficient redevelopment in areas impacted by the uprising last year, where environmental justice is both incredibly important and currently in short supply. There may also be some state dollars allocated to rebuilding; we’ll be watching for that as well, as the budget is finalized this month.
We’re also working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on Clean Cars Minnesota. This rule will provide Minnesotans with more electric vehicle options as well as reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which have in recent years surpassed the emissions from the electricity sector. In addition, the Public Utilities Commission recently approved two pilot programs focused on commercial and industrial rate incentives to encourage the largest users to use energy when it is cheapest and cleanest to produce. Xcel Energy began piloting modern time-of-use rates for residential customers in 2020.
When residential consumers use electricity right now, they pay the same rate, any time, any weather. We need people to start asking themselves whether they should run their dryers at noon on a 95-degree day; a rate incentive to consider conditions is a great way to do that. We need to create cost incentives to get people thinking about their carbon impacts and helping us create a less carbon-intensive electricity grid.
At Fresh Energy, we frame decarbonization in terms of electrification and efficiency, two areas where good building design can really move the needle. We’ve really enjoyed working with all the architects who are joining us in the fight to get policy passed that allows development of more efficient buildings to slow the impacts of climate change. There are still many, many roads we haven’t fully explored on our way to a carbon-neutral future, but we’ll keep working to create a better built environment for all Minnesotans.
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