City of Rochester adopts new greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals

(ABC 6 News) – The City of Rochester council members voted unanimously at the council meeting on Wednesday to adopt new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals for the city.

Rochester’s current goals were adopted within the 2017 Energy Action Plan (EAP) and mirrored the State of Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act.

Goals adopted by the City targeted a 30% reduction in emissions by 2025 and an 80% reduction by 2050.

Since the EAP’s adoption, City staff and the Energy Commission have been implementing a variety of initiatives to meet these goals. Transit oriented development, electrification of public fleets, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, energy efficiency of buildings, and a proposed downtown district energy system are examples of recent efforts.

The city says that Rochester Public Utilities’ commitment to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2030 helped solidify the City’s success in meeting its original interim target of 30% emissions reductions by 2025.

City of Rochester Sustainability Coordinator, Lauren Jensen shares, “I’m really excited about this next step in the City’s sustainability journey. We’ve come a long way in the past few years and made good progress on our interim goal. Now we have the challenge in front of us to do even better and the pathway forward to make it happen.”

To read more about this announcement, CLICK HERE.