Clean energy for all

Who needs MnCIFA’s green financing?  

The core reason that the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority exists is to serve communities that have historically faced barriers in accessing capital needed to fund clean energy projects. These are the same communities facing the worst impacts of Minnesota’s changing climate.

Bringing fairness to energy resources

Every Minnesotan – regardless of income, race, ethnicity, color, or national origin – has the right to energy that is reliable and affordable, safe and clean. Unfortunately, too many people, especially low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous people, carry an unfair heavier burden in the cost of energy and the impacts of our changing climate.  

For example, the average Minnesota household spends about 2 percent of their annual household income on costs for energy, a ratio called household energy burden. But low-income households on average spend three times more, about 6 percent of annual income, to pay utility bills and some spend up to 30 percent annual to keep their lights on and homes warm. See the U.S. Department of Energy Low-Income Energy Affordability Data Tool for more info.  

More reliable and affordable, cleaner, safer energy for all

MnCIFA is committed to developing strategies for investments to deliver cleaner, safer, more reliable and more affordable energy for all Minnesotas, encompassing renewable energy, energy efficiencies and innovative energy technology investments. Projects are required to demonstrate savings in energy or reductions in carbon emissions.  

By state law, we invest at least 40% of our loans in communities meeting qualifications for enviromental justice, defined as communities with census tracts where:  

•    At least 40% of the population is people of color  
•   At least 35% of households have income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level
•   At least 40% of the population has limited proficiency in English  
•   The location is within Indian Country, which is defined as federally recognized reservations and other Indigenous lands  

For assessment of communities with census tracts that qualify as environmental justice communities, MnCIFA leverages this mapping tool provided by our partners at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.  

Climate Action Framework

In addition to our emphasis in focusing investments on underserved communities, MnCIFA supports green financing as an integral part of the State of Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework to address Minnesota’s changing climate through immediate, near-term actions we must take to achieve our long-term goal of a carbon-neutral, resilient, and equitable future for Minnesota.