The City of Red Lake Falls has been awarded a grant from Minnesota’s Solar on Public Buildings program 

The City of Red Lake Falls is adding solar to help power our building and to benefit our community now and into the future. The City of Red Lake Falls is one of more than 80 local governments across the state that are on track to receive grants from the Minnesota Department of Commerce Solar on Public Buildings Program (https://tinyurl.com/SolarOnPublicBuildingsMN) to install solar power.  

“We are proud to be among the local governments in Minnesota’s Solar on Public Buildings Program to install solar panels,” said Mayor Allen Bertilrud. “Solar power will help reduce our building’s energy costs, so we have more money to invest in our community.”  

The Solar on Public Buildings grant for $96,257 will cover 70% of costs for The City to install solar panels on the property next to our City Water Treatment Plant and Water Tower.  The solar installation has been completed and delivering power to our building in June 2026.   The city also will receive a 30% rebate for the remaining costs from Ottertail Power Company.   

Benefits of the Solar on Public Buildings Program  

Solar on Public Buildings is designed to provide incentives for installation of solar energy systems on Minnesota local government buildings. The program offers benefits to communities across Minnesota:  

• Adding solar reduces energy costs.   

• Our local economy benefits from investments made in expanding our energy infrastructure, and from adding clean energy jobs, like solar installations.  

• Solar power helps reduce electricity-based greenhouse gas emissions.   

• Solar power adds “homegrown” renewable sources of energy to our building and the state’s electrical grid, since Minnesota currently imports 100% of its fossil fuels.  

For more Solar on Public Buildings Program info: https://tinyurl.com/SolarOnPublicBuildingsMN. 

For more information about The City of Red Lake Falls solar installation, contact Kathy Schmitz 218-253-2684.