Sustainable: New laws update residential code, energy rules

Minnesota laws passed this year created accelerated updates to the residential energy code and ended fluorescent light bulb sales in the state.

Lawmakers passed just a handful of clean-energy-related bills this session, a sharp contrast to last year, when they delivered dozens of laws to deal with climate change.

The Legislature changed the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, reformed clean energy permitting, tweaked the ECO Act and funded initiatives to advance geothermal projects. 

Clean Energy Economy Minnesota government affairs director George Damian said the session focused on making changes to allow for a smoother implementation of last year’s laws.

“I think it was not quite as slow as some were predicting, including us, but a lot of good things got done,” he said. The following summaries focus tightly on bills impacting the development community.