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(this page is undergoing updates, if you have resources to add please)

What is Technical Assistance?

Climate Adaptation & Resilience

Climate-Smart Food Systems & Natural and Working Lands

Community Benefits Agreements

Data & Tools

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency means using less energy to perform the same task. In other words - eliminating energy waste.

Benefits: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing demand for energy imports, and lowering costs for households and economy-wide

Sector-wide impacts: buildings, transportation, industry, and energy generation and distribution.

ORGANIZATIONS

Center for Environment and Energy (CEE) - all things energy efficiency for homes, buildings, and businesses. Offers energy efficiency consulting services, and home energy squad.

Enerchange - provides free energy efficiency services for nonprofits, and can offer fee-based services to other entities.

Citizens Utility Board Minnesota - nonprofit that advocates for affordable, reliable, and clean energy, while providing expert guidance to help residents navigate their rights and reduce home energy costs.

Community Power - nonprofit dedicated to transforming Minnesota's energy landscape by empowering communities through education and advocacy to make clean, local, equitable, affordable, and resilient energy, including efficiency, accessible to all residents.

Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) - a collaborative network promoting energy efficiency to optimize energy generation, reduce consumption, create jobs and decrease carbon emissions in all Midwest communities.

RESOURCES + TOOLS

Minnesota Energy Efficiency Policy Database (from ACEEE)

For Homeowners

Home Energy Squad - provided by CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy and implemented by the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), Home Energy Squad offers in-home energy audits for any Minnesota resident with a CenterPoint or Xcel account. Customers can choose from a regular audit or an enhanced audit, with options including blower door tests and infrared camera scans to detect air leaks and insulation gaps.

Xcel Energy & CenterPoint Online Tools - discounted home energy audits delivered by CEE and ICF, available at about 75% less than market value, providing a comprehensive plan for your home and lifestyle.

MN Dept. of Commerce: Home Energy Guide - offers a Home Energy Guide with practical ideas to improve home energy use, along with rebate programs for heat pump installations and electrical panel upgrades, with eligibility and amounts varying based on household income.

MN Homeowner Heat Pump Water Heater Calculator - This tool by the MN Dept. of Commerce helps homeowners determine the savings and payback period for installing a heat pump water heater as a replacement for a standard electric resistance water heater.

For Businesses

Xcel Energy Business Energy Studies & Audits - free tools and funded energy studies to help businesses find and address energy efficiencies in their buildings, with rebates available to make audits more affordable.

MnTAP (Minnesota Technical Assistance Program) - offers no-cost, non-regulatory on-site assessments for larger, energy-intensive facilities such as wastewater treatment plants, ice arenas, and transportation garages, focused on reducing waste and energy. State

RETAP (Retiree Environmental Technical Assistance Program) -leverages skilled retired professionals to provide free facility assessments to small businesses, institutions, and governments, including on-site visits to identify opportunities for energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction.

Interval Data Screening Tool for Agricultural/Commercial Sites — This Excel-based tool analyzes electric energy consumption interval data to identify anomalies that may indicate opportunities for energy efficiency and conservation, and can be used at any type of site where interval data is collected.

For Building Operators & Public Buildings

B3 Benchmarking (Buildings, Benchmarks & Beyond) - online energy and water benchmarking tool for Minnesota publicly owned buildings that summarizes energy consumption, water use, costs, and carbon emissions into digestible metrics and reports.

EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager - Minnesota requires building owners of commercial and multifamily properties 50,000+ sq. ft. to report energy usage data to EPA's Portfolio Manager, a tool that allows building owners to compare their building's energy efficiency with similar buildings.

Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) - provides guidance on energy audits and assessments, including benchmarking resources for cities, counties, schools, and state government to identify low- or no-cost improvement opportunities.

Geothermal

Industrial Decarbonization

Legal Support

Minnesota Climate Action Framework

Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP)

Solar App+ (free way to streamline permitting for solar)

VISIT SOLAR APP+ MINNESOTA WEBSITE

SolarAPP+ (Automated Permit Processing) delivers compliant and quick plan review of residential solar and energy storage permits for jurisdictions across Minnesota.

Over a dozen Minnesota jurisdictions currently use SolarAPP+ to automate permitting to validate project quality and save staff time on plan review.Learn how the leading online plan review platform can more efficiently bring clean energy to your communities, support local businesses and improve the quality of plans that your office reviews.

Schedule an Assessment Today

The MN Department of Commerce can help streamline residential solar permitting and provide up to $20,000 to support local governments across Minnesota.

Financial incentives up to $20,000 are available to local govts in MN that first adopt this FREE software (SolarAPP+) to standardize, automate, and streamline the review and permitting process.

Who can apply for the $20K funding to support Solar App+? Local units of government in Minnesota with authority to issue permits for residential solar projects.

How much is available? The MN Dept of Commerce administers $2M in SolarAPP+ incentives to local units of government across Minnesota. The Minnesota legislature established the SolarAPP+ Solar Permitting Software Incentive (Minn.Stat.216C.48) in 2024 to provide financial incentive and technical support for local governments adopting the SolarAPP+ online permitting platform.

When to apply? Applications are first-come, first-serve and reviewed monthly. The incentive will remain available until funds are fully expended or until June 30, 2028. Find full incentive details and application requirements.

For more information. Send general questions about the SolarAPP+ permitting platform and technical assistance inquiries to SolarAPP.comm@state.mn.us.

Please send questions specific to the RFP and application process to energy.contracts@state.mn.us

SolarAPP+ TUTORIALS + FAQsDetails about SolarAPP+ are available in a YouTube instructional video.

FAQs

The Benefits of Going SolarSolar energy uses a renewable energy source – the sun – and provides many benefits for individuals and the community. It improves environmental quality by reducing carbon emissions and air pollution, supports local solar companies in Minnesota, creates local jobs, saves money on energy costs, and improves electric grid resilience during peak demand and other stresses to the system.

Solar Maps and PotentialInvestigate your property’s solar potential with these helpful websites: U of M; or Project Sunroof. You can also estimate the performance of potential PV projects using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s PVWatts Calculator.

Finding a Contractor and Going SolarFind a solar contractor to assess your home for solar energy and provide a quote. It is highly recommended that you get quotes from at least two installers.

MN Attorney General’s statement and considerations for Residential Solar System.
Certified practitioners can be found through NABCEP.
Visit EnergySage to learn about solar energy and submit for solar quotes from a network of pre-screened, local solar installers.
Consumer Solar Checklist – a checklist for residential consumers considering solar energy from IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Clean Energy Consumer Bill of Rights – ensure a positive consumer experience by addressing important issues from IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Various resources from SEIA, the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar Owner’s Manual – information for current solar homeowners to ensure they are getting the most out of their system from Solar United Neighbors.

Financing, Incentives, and Tax ExemptionsTypically, solar installations are paid for through loans, upfront payments, or a power purchase agreement (PPA).

A Homeowner’s Guide to Solar Financing is a resource from the Clean Energy States Alliance that provides an overview of the different financing options.

Federal Incentives

A great place for residents to start identifying the federal incentives for which they are eligible is this calculator from Rewiring America. The rebates and incentives available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act can vary depending on your location and income.
Additional details about benefits in the Inflation Reduction Act can be found on the EPA’s website or the Department of Energy website.
The Federal Investment Tax Credit for residential solar continues to be one of the most significant ways to reduce the cost of your solar PV system. Learn more about the federal tax credit, eligibility, and other common questions & answers in the Homeowner’s Guide to the Federal Tax Credit for Solar Photovoltaics from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The World Resources Institute has created an IRA Bonus Mapper tool to help identify communities that are eligible for the low-income and energy community bonus credits.
Tax-exempt organizations, including non-profit organizations, schools, and government entities, can now take advantage of the federal tax credit through “elective pay” (sometimes referred to as “direct pay.”) An overview of elective pay and Frequently Asked Questions are available from the IRS.

State and local incentives

EnergySage – MN Solar Incentives.
Center for Energy and Environment – Residential Solar Financing for MN Homeowners.
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) – provides state-specific information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States.
State incentives can be found in this database maintained by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center.

Consumer Protections, Solar Rights, and ProceduresIn Minnesota, homeowners have the right to install solar panels on their detached, single-family homes, and homeowner associations (HOAs) cannot prohibit this, but they can regulate installation and appearance. Additionally, companies installing solar panels must be licensed as residential building contractors, and all electrical work must be done by a licensed electrical contractor. Read MN State Statute 500.215.Find other useful resources on solar rights, consumer protection, and procedures.

Consumer Solar Checklist– a checklist for residential consumers considering solar energy from IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Solar United Neighbors’ Solar Owner’s Manual - serves as a support for solar homeowners, whether you’ve just gone solar or you’ve had solar for years.
Clean Energy Consumer Bill of Rights – ensure a positive consumer experience by addressing important issues from IREC, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) – provides state-specific information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Encouraging Solar Development through Community Association Policies and Processes – includes details on how communities can encourage solar development through community association policies and processes.

More Helpful Solar Information

MN Metropolitan Council Solar Community Resources.
Xcel Energy: Renewable EnergySolar Energy Industries Association (MnSEIA).
Center for Energy and Environment (CEE).
Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs)
ENERGY.GOV

Funding Resources

Resources to find, apply for, and comply with grants, plus financing options.

NEW: Proposed Changes to Federal Uniform Guidance 2 CFR Part 200

WEBINARS

Join Rachel Werner, Fielding Jezreel, and Jenni Moreno on June 25th, 2026, from 1:00 to 2:30 PM ET for a free 90 minute webinar focused on the proposed Uniform Guidance updates released on May 29th. During this session, you'll learn the top 10 proposed changes organizations should be paying attention to, understand how the updates may affect organizations of different sizes and sectors, review potential impacts across both pre award and post award activities, and learn how to effectively provide comments before the July 13 public comment deadline.

Watch Recording: The Proposed Rewrite of 2 CFR: What the OMB Uniform Guidance Proposed Rule Means for Local Governments, from June 17, 2026 webinar (National Association of Counties)

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH FEDERAL UNIFORM GUIDANCE CHANGES?

Federal Uniform Guidance, also known as 2 CFR Part 200, is the comprehensive, government-wide rulebook issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that governs how federal grants and awards are administered. It applies to any non-federal entity such as nonprofits, universities, and local governments - that receives federal funding. It outlines in specific details the rules and policies of what entities can and cannot do as recipients of federal funds.

NEW: Read this Factsheet (June 2026, Lawyers for Good Government and Environmental Protection Network)

NEW: List of OMB funding change explainers & resources

The following description of the proposed changes were published on June 1, 2026 by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP (note - this is not legal advice):

"On May 29, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), together with a broad group of participating federal grant-making agencies, released a proposed rule titled “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance” to revise the governmentwide requirements in Title 2 governing grants, cooperative agreements and other forms of federal financial assistance. OMB states that the proposal is intended to improve transparency, accountability and oversight; clarify that subtitle A operates as an OMB regulation; and reduce recipient burden. OMB also emphasizes aligning federal awards with “core purposes authorized by law,” curbing what it describes as “wasteful” and “divisive” uses of assistance and restoring closer central oversight of agency grant portfolios.

OMB’s proposed rule would do far more than make technical edits to the Uniform Guidance. It would convert the governmentwide grants framework in subtitle A of Title 2 from “guidance” into an expressly binding OMB regulation, centralize future updates through OMB rulemaking, and tighten front-end and back-end controls across the full lifecycle of federal financial assistance. The proposal targets diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, along with “gender ideology,” defining these issues as outside of the potential scope of the federal government’s awards. More broadly, it would embed new governmentwide conditions tied to civil‑rights enforcement, national‑interest determinations, and executive orders issued in 2025 and 2026, and it would expand tools for discretionary terminations and temporary suspensions of awards.

For recipients of federal financial assistance, the practical effect is that compliance would begin earlier, extend further into affiliates and subrecipients, and carry greater consequences if an agency concludes that an award no longer advances program objectives, agency priorities or the national interest. Hospitals, colleges, universities, academic medical centers and other research-intensive recipients are especially likely to be affected because the proposal directly addresses research eligibility, foreign collaborations, section 117 disclosure compliance, payment controls, cost allowability and affiliate relationships. The rule also calls out indirect‑cost policy, hospital cost principles and single‑audit standards as areas of special interest, even where OMB is not yet proposing substantive rate‑setting changes."

Summary of (some) proposed changes (from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP. Please note - this is not legal advice):

Guidance Would Become Mandates. OMB proposes to reframe subtitle A of Title 2 from “guidance” into a directly binding OMB regulation, and future OMB amendments would apply governmentwide on OMB’s effective date without separate agency adoption rulemakings. That is significant because recipients and agencies would have less practical room to treat the Uniform Guidance as soft guidance and would need to monitor OMB rulemaking itself for binding changes.
Agencies and Pass-Through Entities Could Terminate or Suspend Awards for Discretionary Reasons. Proposed § 200.340 would allow awards to be terminated not only for noncompliance, but also when an agency or pass-through entity determines that termination is in the relevant interest and the award no longer advances program goals, federal agency priorities or the national interest. The proposal preserves notice and a process for recipients to submit termination-cost information, but formal objection, hearing and appeal rights would generally remain tied to remedies for noncompliance rather than discretionary termination or suspension.
Senior Political Appointees Would Review Discretionary Awards Before Issuance, and Peer Review Would Be Only Advisory. OMB proposes a pre-issuance review in which senior appointees or their designees must independently assess discretionary awards for consistency with law, agency priorities and the national interest. The rule also states that peer review recommendations remain advisory and may not be treated as de facto binding. This is significant because it shifts substantive decision-making authority toward politically accountable leadership and away from conventional expert-review norms that many recipients assume will drive award outcomes.
Federal Award Funds Could Not Support Unlawful DEI, “Gender Ideology” or Child Gender Transition. Proposed § 200.300 would require agencies and pass-through entities to ensure that federal awards are not used to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize or facilitate DEI or DEIA practices that violate applicable anti-discrimination laws, “gender ideology” as defined by Executive Order 14168, or the so-called transition of a child under 19 from one sex to another. OMB presents these as governmentwide funding conditions tied to authorized public purposes and federal civil-rights enforcement. The same section emphasizes ongoing obligations under RFRA and other religious liberty protections, and notes that agencies and recipients must consider exemptions and accommodations where those laws apply, creating a more complex landscape for program design and implementation.
Federal Awards Could Not Be Used to Promote or Support Theories of Disparate-Impact Liability. New § 200.218 would bar agencies, pass-through entities, recipients and subrecipients from using federal awards to promote or support disparate-impact liability, including by supporting disparate-impact studies, disparate-impact litigation or award activity driven by assumed disparate-impact risk, unless expressly required by law. The proposal preserves a narrow exception for internal statistical or demographic analysis only if federal award funds are not used for the analysis and the results are not applied to activities under the award. This is especially notable for hospitals, universities and other large institutions that use demographic or outcomes data in compliance, quality-improvement, hiring, admissions, research or program-administration settings.
Research Awards Would Move to a Domestic-First Model. Proposed § 200.202(e) would generally require research and development awards to go to entities organized under U.S., state or tribal law, with direct awards to foreign entities limited to cases of express statutory authority or a senior-appointee determination. International elements in otherwise domestic projects would have to be affirmatively justified based on scientific need, access to unique resources and national-interest considerations. For universities, academic medical centers and research hospitals, this would materially change proposal strategy, partner selection and the administrative record needed to defend foreign components.
Federal Funds Could Not Support Covered Foreign Collaborations, Including Through Indirect Costs. Proposed § 200.220 would prohibit recipients and subrecipients from obligating or expending federal funds for bilateral or multilateral collaborations with covered foreign countries or covered foreign entities unless a statutory or agency-head exception applies. The prohibition would extend to direct programmatic activity, research, technical assistance, travel and indirect costs allocable to the collaboration. This is a major national-security and research-governance change because it reaches not only direct foreign awards, but also collaborations embedded inside otherwise domestic awards.
Applicant Risk Review Would Expand to Section 117 Compliance, Questionable Practices and Certain Affiliations. OMB proposes to broaden applicant-risk review so agencies may consider financial capacity, audit findings, publicly available evidence of questionable practices, memberships or affiliations linked to public-safety or national-security concerns, and compliance with foreign gift and contract disclosure requirements under section 117 where applicable. For higher education institutions, the section 117 reference is especially significant because it makes foreign gift and contract disclosure compliance an express federal-award risk factor rather than only a parallel education-law issue. This change is likely to matter most in competitive awards where agencies can use risk screening to narrow the field before or alongside merit review.
Recipients Would Have to Use E-Verify for U.S.-Based Award Labor. Proposed § 200.303 would require recipients and subrecipients to participate in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) E-Verify program for employees and contractors hired in or performing work in the United States under a federal award. Final non-confirmations would have to be reported to the federal agency or pass-through entity, together with confirmation that the recipient took appropriate action under E-Verify rules. This is a notable operational and legal compliance change because it adds a new workforce-eligibility overlay to federal financial assistance administration, especially for institutions with decentralized HR functions, foreign researchers or heavy contractor use.
Merit of Scientific Research Proposals Would Be Subject to the Administration’s Discretion. OMB proposes to revise § 200.205 to strengthen requirements for agency merit review and to establish a new pre-issuance review process consistent with Executive Order 14332. As such, it uses “Gold Standard Science” as the benchmark for grant compliance. Further, the proposal states that agencies must prioritize institutions that have “demonstrated success in implementing Gold Standard Science,” thereby deprioritizing previous benchmarks for institutional accountability. In practice, this could shift competitive advantage toward institutions whose research portfolios align with current executive‑branch definitions of methodological rigor and policy relevance, and away from projects characterized as speculative, non‑replicable or driven by “ideology.” Applicants should consider how to document “Gold Standard” practices in their proposals and institutional narratives.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT BY JULY 13

The OMB will take public comments for a 45-day period (starting on May 29, 2026) on the proposed guidance. Then, a Final Rule, which will include provisions on when the changes would become effective, will be issued.

Steps to Submit Comment:

Open the regulations.gov website - this takes you directly to the comments page.
Click the blue "comment" box at the top.
Type your public comment (5000-character limit) published for public viewing on the website. You may also attach up to 20 files (each file cannot exceed 10MB).
Click "submit."

LEARN MORE

Read proposed changes from National Association of Counties.

Read statement about the potential harms to nonprofits.

View official release from the Federal Register.

Funding Clean Energy Projects (Including Elective Pay)

Grants: Prepare Your Org

Find Grants

Grants: How to Apply

Grants Management & Compliance

By Community or Tribal Nation

Resources for Tribal Nations, and rural and environmental justice communities.

Environmental Justice Communities

Local Governments (Township, City, County, Region)

Rural Communities

Tribal Nations

Tools for Community Engagement