Saint Paul
City Scorecard Rank
20
Saint Paul, MN
94.50Scored out of 250Updated 05/2024
Community-Wide Initiatives
Score: 15.5 out of 45 points
Community-Wide Climate Mitigation and Energy GoalsList All
Climate Mitigation Goal
Saint Paul's Climate Action and Resilience plan includes a goal to achieve citywide carbon neutrality by 2050, with an interim carbon reduction goal of 50% below business-as-usual levels by 2030. ACEEE was unable to project if the city will achieve its near-term community-wide GHG emissions reduction goal because insufficient GHG emissions data were available for our analysis.
The city has conducted one greenhouse gas inventory for 2015.
Energy Efficiency Goal
The Climate Action and Resilience Plan calls for a 50% reduction in overall building energy consumption by 2050 and the tripling of incremental energy savings in the residential sector by 2030. The City plans to achieve these goals by adopting strategies identified in the Plan, including deep energy-efficiency retrofits and statewide net-zero building energy standards.
Renewable Energy Goal
The Climate Action and Resilience Plan includes goals for 50% of households to participate in Xcel Energy's Windsource or Renewable*Connect programs, install 50 MW of residential rooftop solar capacity, and install 150 MW of commercial rooftop solar capacity.
Last updated: August 2023
Equity-Driven Approaches to Clean Energy Planning, Implementation, and EvaluationList All
Equity-Driven Community Engagement
While developing the Climate Action and Resilience Plan, the city hosted five community forums to solicit feedback. Four of the five forums were held in areas of concentrated poverty where a majority of residents were people of color. Additionally, each event was co-hosted by a community organization partner.
Equity-Driven Decision-Making
In January 2021, the City Council approved the Mayor’s appointments for a 16-member Climate Justice Advisory Board (CJAB). The CJAB will advise the Mayor and City Council on developing policies and programs related to the City of Saint Paul’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP). The CJAB’s focus will be to ensure that the costs and benefits of new programs in clean energy, energy efficiency, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and climate resilience and adaptation, are equitably distributed and address the challenges faced by our most vulnerable populations and neighborhoods. CJAB members are 50% BIPOC.
Equity Accountability Measures
Saint Paul’s Path to Carbon Neutrality: Building Sector report established a goal to reduce energy burdens in ten years so that no household spends more than 4% of its income on energy costs. Appendix 5 of the report included near-term priorities and year-one milestones towards the goal.
Last updated: August 2023
Clean Distributed Energy ResourcesList All
District Energy Saint Paul is the largest district energy system in North America, and the city played a significant role in its creation. The system provides heating and cooling to most buildings in the downtown area and integrates biomass-fired cogeneration, thermal storage, and solar thermal technology. The city also supported the creation of the Energy Park district heating and cooling system, serving several million square feet of office and residential space.
Saint Paul subscribed to a 3.2 MW community solar system and encourages residents and businesses to subscribe to community solar.
Last updated: August 2023
Adaptive Mitigation List All
Heat Island Mitigation Policies and Programs
St. Paul does not have any urban heat island mitigation policies or programs, but the city has released the Strategic Framework for Community Resilience, which states the intention to address stormwater management through green infrastructure, and parking lot design standards require green space, in part to reduce heat effects and provide areas for stormwater retention.
Resilience Hubs
We were unable to determine if the city has supported the creation of resilience hubs that incorporate clean energy resources and are sited in disadvantaged communities.
Last updated: August 2023
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Workforce DevelopmentList All
Workforce development for disadvantaged workers
We could not determine if city has partnered with a local education institution, labor union, or community-based organization to create, support, and/or incentivize the development of clean energy workforce development initiatives that target training and support services for potential or existing workers from disadvantaged communities to obtain and keep in-demand jobs.
Workforce development for the broader community
We could not determine if city has partnered with a local education institution, labor union, or community-based organization to create, support, and/or incentivize the development of clean energy workforce development initiatives that target training and support services for potential or existing workers from the broader community to obtain and keep in-demand jobs.
Outcomes tracking
We could not determine if the city has instituted a mechanism to measure the performance and/or success of equitable workforce development initiatives focused on the clean energy sector.
Last updated: August 2023
Buildings Policies
Score: 15 out of 70 points
Building Energy CodesList All
Overview
The State of Minnesota currently requires local jurisdictions to comply with the Minnesota Energy Code. The state based the Minnesota Energy Code on the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for residential buildings and the 2018 IECC for commercial buildings. St. Paul does not have the authority to set its own building energy code, but actively advocates to the state for more stringent codes. Additionally, the state allows St. Paul to set stricter building standards if the development is receiving public funding. To learn more about the Minnesota building energy code requirements, please visit the State Policy Database.
Commercial
Commercial properties must comply with the Minnesota Energy Code. The city’s zEPI score for their residential energy code is 52.5. St. Paul actively advocates to the state to adopt more stringent energy codes.
Residential
Residential properties must comply with the Minnesota Energy Code. The city’s zEPI score for their residential energy code is 55.45. St. Paul actively advocates to the state to adopt more stringent energy codes.
Solar--readiness policies
Saint Paul, like all cities in Minnesota, must comply with the state building code, which means that the City is not allowed to mandate residential new construction to be solar-ready.
Saint Paul is a SolSmart Gold designee. As such, the city has implemented programs and practices to streamline these procedures to encourage solar development and allows solar energy use in all zones.
EV-charging readiness policies
Saint Paul, like all cities in Minnesota, must comply with the state building code, which means that the City is not allowed to mandate residential new construction to be EV-ready.
Low-energy use requirements
The Saint Paul Sustainable Building Ordinance, which applies city buildings as well as private development receiving more than $200,000 in public investment, requires all new construction and major renovations to be certified either LEED Silver, MN B3, Enterprise Green Communities, or Green Star Silver. Regardless of what standard is followed, each building must comply with the Minnesota SB 2030 energy standard. SB 2030 is a progressive energy standard that ratchets down 10% every five years until 2030 when it will reach net zero. The Policy applies to all building types.
Electrification policies
Cities may not deviate from the Minnesota Building Code or Energy Code and, therefore, cannot adopt building emissions standards, all-electric readiness provisions, or all-electric requirements for new construction.
Last Update: September 2023
Building Energy Code Compliance and EnforcementList All
We were unable to determine the amount of staff effort dedicated to energy code enforcement. The state’s building and energy codes require plan reviews and performance testing on projects exceeding $500. The city provides upfront support for energy code compliance. The city offers suggestions to work through the codes to find the path they feel is best for their project. After that discussion, city staff work with the project’s mechanical engineer on the mechanical portion of the energy code path.
Last Update: September 2023
Policies Targeting Existing BuildingsList All
Commercial and multifamily benchmarking
St. Paul adopted the Energy Benchmarking Ordinance to require commercial and multifamily buildings greater than 50,000 square feet to benchmark energy usage. The policy does not require buildings to disclose data.
Incentives
Saint Paul offers commercial and multifamily property owners access to financing for energy efficiency upgrades in new construction and improvements through the Saint Paul Port Authority’s MinnPACE (C-PACE) and Trillion BTU programs.
Additionally, developments receiving more than $200,000 must meet the Minnesota SB 2030 energy standard.
The city also administers the Energy Smart Home program to offer residents zero-interest loans for energy efficient upgrades. The program is available for all residents, but allows income-eligible participants to borrow 100% of project costs without a match. However, it is currently inactive while the city amends its terms.
Voluntary programs
Beginning in 2018, the city implemented a voluntary benchmarking program for commercial and multifamily buildings called Race to Reduce. In January 2020, the city passed a mandatory benchmarking ordinance, under which about 78.6 million square feet benchmarked in 2020. The City maintains the Race to Reduce to recognize all properties (and their owners) that make a full benchmarking disclosure, or about 79% of 296 properties that benchmarked. The city also recognizes buildings that have an ENERGY STAR score of 95 and above.
Last Update: September 2023
Transportation
Score: 27.5 out of 70 points
Sustainable Transportation Planning List All
Sustainable Transportation Plan
Saint Paul's Climate Action and Resilience Plan was adopted in 2019 and includes sustainable transportation strategies.
VMT/GHG Targets and Stringency
The Climate Action and Resilience Plan contains a goal of reducing per capita VMT 2.5% per year through 2050. Because the city’s target requires a 2.5% per-capita annual decrease, St. Paul earned 1 point for the stringency of its target.
Progress Achieved Toward VMT/GHG Targets
Due to insufficient data on the target’s baseline, we were unable to project the city's progress toward its 2050 VMT goal. Therefore, we cannot assess progress toward the goal.
Last Updated: September 2023
Location Efficiency List All
Location Efficient Zoning Codes
In 2018, the City of St. Paul modified its zoning code to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in all residential districts.
Parking Requirement
St. Paul has eliminated parking minimums citywide.
Location Efficiency Incentives and Disclosure
The City of St. Paul does not have location-efficient development incentives or disclosure policies.
Affordable Housing around Transit
The city incentivizes affordable housing near transit by giving preference to developments located near transit when allocating Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
Last Updated: September 2023
Mode Shift List All
Mode Shift Targets
According to the 2040 St. Paul Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2020, the City has a goal of 25% of all trips being made by walking, 20% by public transit, and 8% by biking by 2040.
Progress Achieved Toward Mode Shift Targets
The City of St. Paul did not provide data collected on mode share since the adoption of its goal; therefore, we cannot assess progress toward the goal.
Subsidized Access to Efficient Transportation Options
The City of St. Paul has partnered with HOURCAR to offer electric carsharing to city residents. Those earning 50% or less of the area median income can get discounted rates through the Access Plus plan. Lime and Spin, the primary shared micromobility operators for the City of St. Paul, offer discounted rides for qualifying individuals. For Spin, individuals with limited incomes are eligible for Spin Access. Those participating in assistance programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, or the local transit agency's reduced fare program are eligible for Lime Access.
Last Updated: September 2023
Public Transit List All
Transit Funding
We could not determine how much funding the transit entities that serve the City of St. Paul have received from local sources.
Access to Transit Services
The AllTransit Performance Score measures a given community's transit access and performance. The score considers connections to other routes, access to jobs, service frequency, and the percent of commuters who ride transit to work. The City of St. Paul's AllTransit Performance Score is 7.7, scoring 2 points in the City Scorecard.
Last Updated: September 2023
Efficient VehiclesList All
Efficient Vehicle Purchase Incentives
Neither the City of St. Paul nor the local utility provide incentives for purchasing efficient vehicles.
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Incentives
Xcel Energy, a utility serving the City of St. Paul, offers a level 2 EV charger leasing option. Residents can have the charger installed and set up in their home at no upfront cost, and pay $16.48 per month to cover the charger, installation costs, data/service fees, and unlimited charger maintenance.
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Requirements
The City of St. Paul does not require new developments to install EV charging stations.
EV Charging Ports
The City of San Francisco has 16.9 vehicle charging ports per 100,000 people available for public use.
Electric School Bus Goal
Neither the City of St. Paul nor the local school district have set an electric school bus goal.
Electric Transit Bus Goal
Metro Transit, the primary transit agency serving St. Paul set a goal of 20% of bus replacement procurements to be electric between 2022 and 2027. Metro Transit plans to prioritize routes serving communities where poor air quality and racial and socioeconomic disparities are greatest as it transitions to electric buses.
BONUS: Equitable EV Charging
The City of St. Paul partnered with Minneapolis and HOURCAR to launch Evie Carshare. The program not only provides carsharing services to residents of the two cities, but also installs EV chargers that any EV owner can use. Among other things, factors for charger placement include resident demographics, density of zero-vehicle households, and density of renters and public housing.
Last Updated: January 2024
Freight System EfficiencyList All
Sustainable Freight Plans
St. Paul does not have a sustainable freight plan or freight mobility plan. However, the city is pursuing multiple sustainable freight strategies, including curbside management and prioritizing investments in multimodal freight hubs.
Open Data Portals
The City of St. Paul does not have an open data portal with real-time freight data.
Last Updated: September 2023
Community Energy Infrastructure
Score: 27 out of 40 points
Community Energy Infrastructure Summary List All
Xcel Energy, an investor-owned utility (IOU), is the primary electric and natural gas utility for the City of Saint Paul. To learn more about the state requirements for electric and gas efficiency, please visit the Minnesota page of the State Database.
The Saint Paul Regional Water Services is the municipal utility that provides the City of Saint Paul with drinking water services. Wastewater treatment is provided by the Metropolitan Council. Stormwater management is provided by two watershed districts and the City of Saint Paul.
Last Updated: August 2023
Electricity and Natural Gas Efficiency SavingsList All
In 2021, according to Xcel Energy, they achieved 743,847 MWh in net electric incremental savings.
In 2021, Xcel reported 11.7 MMtherms of net natural gas savings at the meter.
Xcel offers natural gas and electric efficiency incentives and technical assistance to residential and commercial/industrial customers.
Saint Paul participates in Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy program where the city and utility partner to set energy efficiency targets and determine renewable energy strategies to work toward carbon neutrality by 2050 in the building sector. Through this program, Xcel Energy provided the City of Saint Paul access to data regarding energy use by customer, neighborhood, business district, census track, and other local configurations. Developers complying with the Saint Paul Sustainable Building Ordinance must participate in the Xcel’s Energy Design Assistance program. Those projects are then eligible to receive incentives from Xcel Energy.
Last Updated: August 2023
Low-Income & Multifamily EE Programs List All
Low-Income Programs
Xcel Energy offers a portfolio of programs for low-income customers, including the Home Energy Savings Program (HESP), Low Income Home Energy Savings Program (LIHES), Multi-Family Energy Savings Program (MESP), and Affordable Efficient New Home Construction.. HESP offers free home energy education and improvement services to income-qualifying customers. HESP starts with a home assessment and installation of LED lighting. Additional measures offered are refrigerator, freezer, room air conditioner replacement and recycling. For natural gas customers the program offers replacement of furnace, boiler or water heater. HESP will also provide weatherization services for homes heated with natural gas or electricity from Xcel Energy, and the program coordinates with the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). The LIHES Program offers installation services to electric and gas customers who seek to improve their homes’ comfort and lower their utility bills. During a home visit, the program identifies energy savings opportunities, educates customers about energy-saving measures, and then installs the customers’ measures of choice, such as light bulbs, water efficiency measures, and door and attic hatch weatherstripping.
MESP offers free education and electric saving measures to income-qualifying multi-family buildings. Services are provided in the resident’s units and include installation of LED bulbs, replacement and recycling of refrigerators, freezers, and room air conditioners. Outside of the low-income portfolio, the Multi-Family Building Efficiency Program will provide double incentive for income-qualified buildings. The Affordable Efficient New Home Construction program is a new, income-qualified program introduced in 2021. It helps local, affordable housing builders and qualified market-rate builders construct energy efficient, affordable homes for residential customers. It provides incentives for installing a suite of advanced energy efficiency measures.
Income eligible participants may leverage funding through the Weatherization Assistant Program or other external sources—such as City funded and administered grant programs—while participating in utility-managed programs. Beyond funding for efficiency projects, some communities support the program outreach through their staff, community members and city specific communications resources.
In December 2020, the Department approved the addition of Health and Safety measures via program modification (HESP) that enabled implementers to install energy efficient equipment. The modification increased the program’s electric and natural gas budgets through 2023, but also helped increase participation in the income level eligibility criteria to 300 percent of federal poverty level, gave program implementers flexibility in requiring landlord contributions, and added health & safety funds to drive more participation and enable more energy efficient upgrades to be implemented.
In 2021, according to Xcel Energy, it achieved 1,549 MWh and 0.08 MMtherms in energy savings, while spending $2,191,944 and $1,928,060 on electric and natural gas low-income programs, respectively. In 2021, Xcel Energy served 6,590 electric and 770 natural gas low-income customers.
Saint Paul is partnering with Xcel Energy and the Center for Energy and Environment on the Electric Heat Affordable Rental Pilot Project. The EHARP program will install cold climate air source heat pumps in low-income rental properties heated with electric resistance heating. Units will also undergo weatherization. The intent is to reduce costs and emissions while making the units more comfortable. The hope is to expand the program after the pilot stage. Saint Paul is also using $1 million of federal ARPA funds to develop a low-income pre-weatherization program (Healthy Homes) that local non-profit energy-efficiency agencies will administer.
Multifamily Programs
Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy jointly offer the Multi-Family Building Efficiency (MFBE) program and the Multi-Family Energy Savings Program. The MFBE provides a free whole-building energy audit, whole-building energy usage, free installation of screw-in LEDs, energy-saving faucet aerators and showerheads, water heater blanket and LED signs in the resident’s units and common areas of the buildings. If the building has sufficient cost-effective savings opportunities to reach a minimum of 15% energy savings, they can achieve an incentive of at least 25% of the project cost—the incentive increase with higher savings achievement potential. If the building qualifies as low income, the incentives are doubled. Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy also provides a dedicated low-income multifamily program, Multi-Family Energy Savings Program. This program provides a 25% rebate bonus on top of its standard rebates for income-qualified customers.
In 2021, according to Xcel Energy, it achieved 3,706 MWh of savings, while spending $2,292,300 on its electric multifamily programs, . Xcel served 22,579 electric housing units at 586 multifamily properties in 2021. Xcel energy spent $713,337 on its natural gas multifamily programs. In 2021, we were unable to verify natural gas savings and customers for Xcel Energy.
Last Updated: August 2023
Provision of Energy Data by UtilitiesList All
Xcel Energy provides free automatic upload of monthly energy bill data to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager accounts, including aggregated whole building data for buildings with four or more tenants. Beginning in 2020, the Company’s MFBE program offered benchmarking services to customers who are interested.
The city of Saint Paul and Xcel Energy provides community wide energy usage information for planning and evaluation purposes through their Xcel Energy Partners in Energy program and is Xcel Energy’s annual Community Energy Report. The Regional Indicators Initiative also provides complete energy data for residential, commercial, and municipal buildings. Municipal buildings data is included in the commercial buildings figure. Municipal buildings are benchmarked using B3 software and is publicly available.
The City of Saint Paul does not advocate for better access to utility data for ratepayers or the establishment of data-sharing agreements between the city and its utilities.
Last Updated: August 2023
Decarbonization and Climate Change Mitigation Efforts of Cities and Energy UtilitiesList All
Utility Climate Mitigation Goal
In December 2018, Xcel Energy set a goal to provide customers with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. They also include an interim goal of reducing carbon emissions 80% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. To achieve this goal, Xcel Energy will need to reduce emissions by 6.2% annually from 2019 levels in the state of Minnesota.
City-Led Efforts to Decarbonize the Electric Grid
In December 2019, the City Council passed a resolution opposing the inclusion of a new natural gas plant in Xcel Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), urging Xcel and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to instead find ways to further accelerate utility-scale renewables and storage. The resolution directed staff to comment on Xcel’s IRP filing at the PUC. In turn, City staff submitted comments to MN PUC on Xcel Energy's Integrated Resource Plan opposing new fossil gas plant and asking for deeper analysis of renewables plus storage. The City is also supporting analysis being done between District Energy St. Paul and Xcel looking at opportunities to decarbonize District Energy Saint Paul's operations.
The City’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan, published in December 2019, also calls for increasing distributed single-family residential solar on rooftops from the current 7.1 MW citywide to 50 MW by 2030 and 70 MW by 2050, as well as commercial and multi-family targets of 100 MW by 2030 and 160 MW by 2050. The City and Xcel partnered on the Partners in Energy Plan, which became the groundwork for the buildings chapter of the city’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan. The City has also signed a letter of interest with Xcel to purchase 5 MW of renewable through the next round of Xcel’s Renewable Connect program. The City has expressed interest in purchasing Renewable Connect green tariff electricity from Xcel and has expressed initial interest in a new green tariff product Xcel will be offering based on a hydro facility in Saint Paul.
Clean Distributed Energy Resources
District Energy Saint Paul is the largest district energy system in North America, and the city played a significant role in its creation. The system provides heating and cooling to most buildings in the downtown area and integrates biomass-fired cogeneration, thermal storage, and solar thermal technology. The city also supported the creation of the Energy Park district heating and cooling system, serving several million square feet of office and residential space.
Saint Paul subscribed to a 3.2 MW community solar system and encourages residents and businesses to subscribe to community solar.
Municipal Renewable Energy Procurement
Saint Paul has installed approximately 500 kW of solar on city-owned facilities.
City Renewable Energy Incentive and Financing Programs
Saint Paul offers commercial and multifamily property owners access to financing for energy upgrades in new construction and improvements through the Saint Paul Port Authority’s MinnPACE (C-PACE) and Trillion BTU programs.
Last Updated: September 2023
Efficiency Efforts in Water ServicesList All
Citywide Water Efficiency and Goals
The utilities currently do not offer joint energy and water efficiency measures. However, Xcel Energy does offer several efficiency measures that also save water, including efficient showerheads, faucet aerators, ENERGY STAR clothes washers, and efficient commercial dishwashers.
The city’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan identifies specific water conservation goals (water use reduction goal of 2% per person per year) and provides several strategies to achieve those goals. SPRWS has found that the most common cause of unintended increased usage is a running toilet. In 2019, as many as 4,700 water customers experienced a potentially leak-related spike in their bill. SPRWS has established a program for early detection and assistance with identifying/fixing malfunctioning toilets. The program has a dual goal of conserving water and preventing financial strain since water bills can add up quickly when leaks related to malfunctioning toilets are left unresolved.
Water Plant Efficiency and Self-Generation
Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) has two solar projects. The first project is a 53.6 KW system with an approximate generation of 56,5000 kWh per year, which was installed above the Engine Room in 2021. The second project is a 1,000 KW system to be installed above the finished water reservoir and completed in the summer of 2023. SPRWS owns both systems. SPRWS installed LED lighting in its facilities and resized the high-service pump, which will save approximately 150,000 to 300,000 kWh per month.
Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES), which operates and maintains regional sewers and wastewater treatment, is also dedicated to minimizing its energy use and emissions. MCES has met 50% of Executive Order 19-27, directing state agencies to reduce its energy consumption by 30% between 2006 and 2027. The energy conservation work that MCES has implemented equates to about $3 million per year in savings. Over the next 10 years, the solids improvement projects at Empire and Seneca wastewater treatment plants that will further decrease energy consumption.
The MCES operates two wastewater treatment facilities, the Metro plant and the Blue Lake plant, both of which self-generate energy. MCES also produced methane gas through anaerobic digestion.
Last Updated: August 2023
Local Government Score:
9.5 out of 25 points
Local Government Climate and Energy Goals List All
Climate Change Mitigation Goal
The city of Saint Paul set a goal to reduce local government GHG emissions 100% by 2030.
Energy Reduction Goal
We could not find any information regarding a local energy reduction goal for Saint Paul.
Renewable Energy Goal
The city of Saint Paul set a goal to use 50% renewable energy to power city operations by 2025.
Last updated: November 2023
Procurement and Construction Policies List All
Fleet Policies and Composition
Saint Paul’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan established a goal to achieve carbon neutrality in municipal operations by 2030, which includes a target to reduce fleet emissions by 9% annually during 2019-2030. The CARP includes key actions to assess the City’s vehicle fleet to identify opportunities for electrifying, right-sizing, and improving overall efficiency of vehicles and to identify opportunities to convert heavy-duty vehicles to alternative fuels that reduce carbon emissions. The city’s fleet is composed of 3% efficient vehicles, including hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
Public Lighting
Saint Paul has not adopted a policy requiring efficient outdoor lighting, such as the International Dark-Sky Association’s Model Lighting Ordinance. However, all streetlights in Saint Paul are controlled by optical sensors that extinguish when sufficient light is available. Through Saint Paul’s outdoor lighting replacement and upgrade program, 38% of streetlights owned by the City have been converted to LEDs. We were unable to confirm the percentage of utility-owned streetlights converted to LED, and therefore, unable to confirm the total percentage of streetlights converted to LED in Saint Paul.
Inclusive procurement
Saint Paul has an inclusive procurement policy for City contracts and purchasing. The Saint Paul Vendor Outreach Program (VOP) is a business assistance program designed to help woman-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses enterprises (WBE, MBE, SBE). Under the VOP, the City establishes annual goals and project-specific goals for purchasing from WBEs, MBEs, and SBEs in various product and service categories. VOP requirements apply to City projects, as well as private projects receiving public funding. Saint Paul screens contractors to ensure they do not have a history of violating workplace laws or other regulatory protections. In 2009, the City Council adopted a resolution that governs PLAs. After the City provides notice to interested parties, the City Council determines whether the PLA applies to a project based on project dollar and scope considerations.
Last updated: October 2023
Asset Management List All
Building Benchmarking
Saint Paul benchmarks energy and water use in 100% of municipal facilities over 10,000 square feet, and data is collected for the Minnesota B3 Benchmarking platform and the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Saint Paul has 110 sites benchmarked, totaling 2,289,435 sq ft.
Comprehensive Retrofit Strategies
Saint Paul has utilized Xcel Energy’s services to conduct energy audits, recommissioning reports, and other feasibility studies for city buildings since 2016. These reports/plans identified a wide range of potential energy conservation measures, and the City has been prioritizing facilities over 25,000 square feet and high-energy-use buildings for retrofits and improvements. In 2019, the City’s Green Revolving Loan Fund increased to $5 million. The City is currently undergoing a process of updating records using the Asset Planner platform to prioritize buildings for capital maintenance investments in 2023-2024.
Municipal Employee Transportation Benefits
Saint Paul provides transportation passes at a discounted rate through Metro Transit.
Last update: February 2024