MN’s ECO Act: 2024 CEE highlights
Since the passage of the Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act in 2021, Minnesota residents, utilities, and businesses have reaped the benefits of expanded funding to save money and energy in their natural gas and electricity use. The ECO Act builds on the previous Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) with more options for low-income households, a wider array of qualified energy-saving technologies through efficient fuel-switching (EFS), stronger conservation goals from investor-owned utilities, and more.
This was the second year that Minnesota utility programs operated under the ECO guidelines — during the 2024 MN legislative session, CEE successfully supported key modifications to ECO that enabled a more practical approach to EFS and reduced administrative burden for utilities and regulators, without compromising benefits to consumers and the energy system. These changes streamlined programs operating under the ECO framework and reflect the importance of evolving energy frameworks to work for all Minnesotans.
Let’s look back on some of the important ECO-related work that CEE and our partners accomplished in 2024.
One-Stop Efficiency Shop
This program offers a full-service rebate program for small to midsize businesses in Xcel Energy’s Minnesota services territory, with a focus on lighting, free smart thermostat installations, rooftop unit improvements, and refrigeration. One-Stop provides practical solutions to energy efficiency challenges by addressing common barriers such as limited financial resources, lack of access to high-quality contractors, and time constraints. In 2024, One-Stop completed 1,854 projects including 834 smart thermostat installations, leading to the conservation of 10.6 megawatts and 51 gigawatt hours of energy, as well as $9 million in disbursed rebates and $5 million in annual savings for local businesses.
Learn more about the One-Stop Efficiency Shop
Home Energy Squad
CEE delivers this service for Xcel Energy and CenterPoint, which pairs on-the-spot installations of energy-saving products with an energy assessment for greater home comfort and savings. At each visit, energy experts install upgrades like LED bulbs, faucet aerators, and smart thermostats. Home Energy Squad completed over 7,500 visits in 2024 and helped save energy amounting to about 3 gigawatt hours and 36,000 decatherms. Additionally in 2024, 1,227 CenterPoint and Xcel Energy customers used the free Energy Advisor Service to complete energy efficiency projects and earn 1,873 rebates.
Learn more about the Home Energy Squad
Multifamily Energy Savings Program
This program, provided by Minnesota Energy Resources, is designed to help multifamily building owners save energy through rebate incentives and direct installation of energy-saving products like high-efficiency showerheads and faucet aerators. Since its inception, the program has served more than 13,200 multifamily units, resulting in an average savings each year of $30 per unit on natural gas bills and an additional $13 per unit on electricity.
Learn more about our multifamily work
Regional Residential Energy Programs
Among the offerings that CEE implements for Minnesota Energy Resources, more than 50 Rochester households attended Neighbor Energy Challenge workshops, a joint program of Minnesota Energy Resources and Rochester Public Utilities that connects residents to practical energy efficiency solutions and energy audits. Additionally, CEE staff delivered over 400 energy saving kits to Minnesota Energy Resources customers at community events and manufactured home parks in Cloquet, Eagan, Lakeville, and Rosemount.
Authorized Insulation Contractor Program
This program offers insulation and air sealing services in the region served by Minnesota Energy Resources. Participating contractors benefit from easy access to competitive utility-paid rebates. In 2024, the program completed 25 onsite quality assurance inspections and 11 remote quality assurance inspections in the form of phone interviews. The program also onboarded six new Authorized Insulation Contractors and held three single-day trainings to certify 28 new crew leaders.
Learn more about the AIC program
New Homes Single-family and Multifamily Rater Services
This program offers energy consulting and energy rater services to single-family new and existing home builders and multifamily developers. For single-family homes, the program performed a variety of energy consulting and ratings (HERS, ENERGY STAR, DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes, and Phius) for 265 homes and 64 builders. Single-family highlights include 16 Phius projects, 20 DOE Zero Energy Ready, and 62 ENERGY STASR projects. For multifamily developers, the program worked on 17 buildings with 12 builders and 7 developers. A variety of multifamily energy efficiency certifications were achieved for affordable housing projects, including Phius, DOE Zero Energy Ready, and ENERGY STAR in 2024. This work covered seven different utilities throughout the state.
Learn more about new construction services
Successful energy conservation requires thoughtful policies, excellent customer service, and high-quality work by a well-trained workforce. We are proud to be part of the vast ECO network that delivers programs tailored to Minnesota’s diverse communities. ECO drives our mission to strengthen the economy while improving the environment.