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Saint Paul requests $2.25 million from RDA to install geothermal at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
Summary
Senate File 22‑20 would use $2,250,000 from the Renewable Development Account to install geothermal heating and cooling at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in Saint Paul, including conversion work tied to a planned replacement of the Big Cats building.
Senator Umu Verbaten presented Senate File 22‑20 on March 24, requesting $2,250,000 in fiscal year 2026 from the Renewable Development Account to construct a geothermal energy system to provide space heating and cooling for buildings at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in Saint Paul.
Erica Prosser, deputy director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Saint Paul and interim director at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, told the committee the campus is a high‑usage energy site — she said campus operations represent up to 25% of the city’s overall energy use for buildings — and that the existing steam heating infrastructure is more than 40 years old and unreliable. A 2022 geothermal feasibility study by Sustainable Energy Savings in partnership with Xcel Energy indicated favorable hydrogeology and estimated building‑level geothermal paybacks of three to nine years using 2021 utility rates. Prosser provided estimated annual net utility savings per building ranging from $42,000 to $438,000 per year under those assumptions.
Prosser said Phase 1, converting the primate and polar bear buildings to geothermal and electric heat pumps, is underway and that the requested RDA funds would support converting the big cats exhibit and related facilities as part of a broader campus modernization that also includes LED lighting and upgraded building controls.
Russ Stark, the city’s chief resiliency officer, was available to answer questions and said federal earmarks and city resources have funded portions of the work to date; the city has also used recent sales tax revenue and expects other capital funding sources (including bonding) to be part of the building replacement and modernization package.
Committee members asked about backup heat for electric geothermal systems in the event of grid outages. Stark and city witnesses said backup generation (typically a diesel generator sized for short‑term operation) would be provided to protect animal life and building systems during outages and that permitting and requirements for such generators would be addressed within project planning and permitting processes.
The committee laid Senate File 22‑20 over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill; no final appropriation occurred at the hearing.
