House committee refers bill to rename Minnesota community solar program for Melissa Hortman
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Summary
The House Energy, Finance and Policy Committee heard widespread, bipartisan testimony supporting House File 3556 — a bill to rename the Community Solar Garden program for the late Melissa Hortman — and referred the bill to the General Register by voice vote after testimony from utilities, industry groups, advocates, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
The House Energy, Finance and Policy Committee voted to refer House File 3556 to the General Register after receiving more than a dozen witnesses urging lawmakers to rename Minnesota’s Community Solar Garden program in honor of Melissa Hortman.
Sponsor remarks and a motion to move the bill began the item, with the sponsor describing Hortman as a driving force behind the 2013 community solar legislation and asking the committee to advance the measure. The committee then heard a sequence of supportive testimonies from state officials, trade groups, developers and consumer advocates.
“For the record, I’m Katie Seben, the chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission,” the first witness said, concluding her remarks with an appeal for committee support. Pete Wyckoff, deputy commissioner for energy at the Department of Commerce, told the panel the CSG program has been a national model and cited the program’s scale and performance: he said more than 1 gigawatt of community solar has been approved in Minnesota and that the program continues to exceed statutory low‑ and moderate‑income participation goals.
Industry representatives underscored the program’s economic and workforce impacts. Logan O’Grady, executive director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association, called Hortman the industry’s “solar godmother” and recalled her final message about urgency: “the planet is literally on fire.” Nick Bowman of the Coalition for Community Solar Access and George Damien of Clean Energy Economy Minnesota described Minnesota’s program as an early national model that enabled private investment, jobs and consumer savings.
Several nonprofit and cooperative leaders — including representatives of Solar United Neighbors, Vote Solar, Cooperative Energy Futures, and Enterprise Energy — offered personal anecdotes about Hortman’s mentorship and credited her with creating an accessible pathway for renters, schools and lower‑income households to participate in solar. Xcel Energy also lent its support, with a company representative recalling negotiations during the program’s 2013 formation.
Committee members delivered brief, largely unanimous remarks in praise of Hortman’s leadership and character. The sponsor renewed the motion to refer HF 3556 to the General Register; the committee approved the referral by voice vote (ayes), and the bill was formally sent to the General Register for further consideration.
The measure does not represent a change to program operations; its effect would be renaming Minnesota’s Community Solar Garden program in permanent recognition of Hortman’s role. The next procedural step for HF 3556 is consideration on the General Register.