Community solar garden program renamed in Hortman’s honor

The state’s community solar garden program is now the “Melissa Hortman Community Solar Garden Program.”

Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) was chair of the House Energy Finance and Policy Committee when she sponsored legislation to create the program, which was launched in 2013 to help residents and businesses benefit from solar energy without installing their own panels. The country’s first of its kind, it became a model for other states creating their own programs.

Hortman was assassinated in June 2025.

This law took effect April 15, 2026. It’s sponsored by Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL-Minnetonka) and Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin).

HF3556*/SF3800/CH44

HF3556* / SF3800 / CH44