An ordinance that would require Minneapolis homeowners and landlords to disclose how much energy leaks out of their properties moved closer to enactment Monday.
A City Council committee voted to advance the measure, after scaling back a requirement for an energy efficiency test that some had criticized as overly expensive.
Residents lined up at City Hall on Monday to testify largely in favor the proposal, many lauding it as a step toward combating climate change and creating more transparency on energy-related costs to prospective property buyers and renters.
If passed, the new policy would add an energy test to home inspections, including drilling a 2-inch hole into the walls of a property to measure insulation. Inspectors would also check windows, heating systems and insulation in attics.
These findings would be compiled into an energy report and disclosed to property buyers with a 1 to 100 rating on energy efficiency.
Landlords would be required to give a similar report to prospective renters with an estimated cost per month for electric and heating bills at the time of application.
"I view this as like an Energy Star rating or mile-per-gallon rating on my car. I pay attention to those things. I know other people do," said northeast Minneapolis resident Barb Draper, who urged the council to approve the new regulations in the face of inevitable pushback. "I hope you pass this and stay the course."
Luke Grundman, who advocates for vulnerable tenants as an attorney for Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, told the council about one of his low-income clients who moved into a property for $200 a month, only be hit with a $500-per-month heating bill come winter. An audit from Xcel Energy found the unit had almost no insulation, Grundman said.
