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Rochester staff outline plan to test public support for a natural gas franchise fee
Summary
City staff proposed a community engagement campaign to assess whether Rochester should implement a natural gas franchise fee to fund sustainability programs; staff outlined options, a proposed 50/50 split of revenues between community programs and municipal efforts, and a Jan.–Mar. 2026 outreach period with a recommendation due in April.
Tyler Niemeyer, presenting staff’s concept for a natural gas franchise fee, told the Rochester City Council on Nov. 24 that the city’s franchise agreement with Minnesota Energy Resources includes a provision allowing the city to collect a fee but the city has not yet exercised that option. Niemeyer said the fee would be collected on customer bills by the utility and remitted to the city to provide a stable, predictable funding source for the council’s sustainability priorities.
“Franchise fees allow a city to collect a small steady fee from utilities,” Niemeyer said as he summarized the concept. Kayla Betzold, the city’s sustainability coordinator, said staff and the consultant WSB propose an engagement program to inform residents, gather preferences on fee structure and level, and report back to the council. Betzold said…
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