By Charlie Mahler, KYMN News
After hearing a report highlighting issues compromising Northfield’s Sustainable Building Policy (SBP) goals’ progress, the Northfield City Council broadly discussed the topic ahead of likely amendments to the SBP in March.
City of Northfield Sustainability Coordinator Sara Pabich’s presentation scoped the trajectory of the SBP toward Northfield’s 2040 goal of being carbon-free. The reports key takeaway was sobering:
“Sustainable Building Policy is currently not achievable for current development projects due to external constraints on renewable energy interconnections and policy requirements that depend on on-site renewables,” the report stated.
Echoing recent ice arena-related council discussion, protracted timelines for residential solar connection to Excel Energy’s congested grid was central to the concerns about SBP effectiveness. The report acknowledged the 3-5-year queue for interconnection to the Xcel grid.
Mayor Erica Zweifel was unsparing in her comments and frustration with Xcel Energy.
“It is unacceptable to me that in Northfield we do not have access to the cheapest form of energy right now,” she said. “Completely unacceptable that Xcel Energy has not upgraded our grid and we do not even have that option here in Northfield. I’m going to do everything in my power, I’m going to email everyone I know and say, you know Northfield has just suspended or re-amended our sustainable building policy because we have no access to solar energy in Northfield, and that’s unacceptable.”
The report also noted that the connection-related workaround of purchasing renewable offsets to replace residential solar doesn’t reduce local emission. Pabich’s report also noted the absence of a standard for the SBP’s energy use calculation requirement. The report suggested that the city council amend the Northfield Green Requirements in the short term and, long term, conduct a full review of the Sustainable Building Policy “to create a clear, achievable, and locally appropriate framework that still advances Northfield’s carbon-free 2040 goals.”
The council discussion and comments suggested the contours of future debate on amendments to the policy. Councilor Chad Beumer suggested a “moratorium” on the SBP, before partially walking the statement back.
“Just to be clear, I’m not saying we need to kill the policy,” he clarified. “My point is, in the short term, trying to enforce a partial policy seems kind of ridiculous. Until we can update the policy to what it should be – and what works for us and what we can make work – pause the policy, moratorium on the policy until that time arrives. To try to enforce a partial policy seems kind of silly.”
Councilor Brad Ness asked if the city had ever calculated the costs the SBP added to the price of a new home, sharing that he’d heard estimates as high as 25 to 30%. Councilor Jessica Peterson-White stressed that cost analysis should consider long-term energy-cost savings, not just the sticker price of a new build. She also urged councilors to not abandon sustainability goals in the face of current obstacles.
“I do think it’s very important that we acknowledge that climate change is also very expensive,” she said. “I think one of the challenges as local policymakers is that there is no sustainable building plan we can write that will entirely avert climate change. So it can be tempting to say, well, we better loosen that up so we can build some cheaper houses, and we’ll worry about climate change later or hope that someone else does something.”
Charlie Mahler is a regular contributor to KYMN News. He can be contacted at news@kymnradio.net
