ST. PAUL — Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, affectionately known as the “solar godmother” of Minnesota, will have a community solar garden program named in her honor, after an emotional hearing in the House Energy Finance and Policy committee on Tuesday.
As chair of the committee, Hortman was known for her passion for clean energy and was beloved by clean energy advocates and organizations. She authored Minnesota’s solar energy standard and community solar laws that were passed in 2013, proudly displaying the achievement in
her X bio.
She also started the Community Solar Garden program, making Minnesota a trailblazer in the field of solar energy.
The CSG program gives Minnesotans, particularly low- and moderate-income individuals, access to solar gardens and a chance to
“benefit from solar energy without installing a system at their home.”
Residents can sign up to be a community solar subscriber for a CSG in their electric service territory,
which would allow them to share the electricity from a local utility grid with other subscribers.
The CSG operator would then bill each subscriber for their share of the electricity generated that month, potentially helping subscribers save money on electricity.
Pete Wyckoff, deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce, said Minnesota’s CSG program was “the initial driver of solar buildout at scale in Minnesota.”
Enterprise Energy CEO Eric Pasi also spoke to the sprawling impact that Hortman’s work in the clean energy industry had on Minnesotans.
“Thousands of Minnesotans — renters, small businesses, schools and especially low- and moderate-income families — have been able to participate in clean energy for the first time,” he said. “This program didn’t just build solar farms. It built Minnesota businesses, it built careers, it built opportunity.”
The SolarStone community solar site in Farmington, Minnesota.
Contributed / Minnesota Solar Energy Industries
Other friends and colleagues, along with clean energy advocates, testified in favor of
the bill
and paid tribute to Hortman.
“She was, of course, ‘Representative’ and ‘Speaker.’ But in our world, she was our champion, our fiercest ally, our defender, our five-star general, and most affectionately, however, she was our solar godmother,” said Logan O’Grady, executive director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association. “She’s the reason thousands of people across Minnesota have a job and a livelihood today, for the solar communities bill isn’t just about policy — it’s deeply personal.”
While representatives acknowledged that, because of her humility, Hortman would likely think the bill was unnecessary, they agreed it was an important way to honor her.
“One thing I think we all knew about Melissa is that she wasn’t always seeking the spotlight. She wasn’t looking to be recognized, and she really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to lift up others,” said Rep. Patty Acomb, DFL-Minnetonka, who proposed the bill. “And so she probably wouldn’t be very comfortable with this today, but I think that’s why it’s really important.”
The committee unanimously voted in favor of the bill.
The Senate has introduced several other bills to honor Hortman and her husband, including:
SF 3899,
which would name the State Office Building after Melissa Hortman
SF 3998,
which would establish the Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park
SF 4073,
which would rename Marked Trunk Highway 610 the “Hortman Memorial Highway.”
Maddie Mullikin is the Forum News Service legislative reporting intern for the 2026 session. She is a journalism and political science student at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
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