News

This past spring, thanks to support from the University of Minnesota’s Central Region Sustainable Development Partnership, Central CERT Coordinator Sarah Hayden Shaw had the opportunity to work with Connor Schaefer, a Masters student at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

What do people living and working in your community want in energy efficiency and sustainability? Communities can partner with Xcel Energy to identify and prioritize their energy needs. The utility provides tools and resources to develop a plan and then supports putting it into action.

It’s called Partners in Energy.

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society’s Sustainable Home Tour (formerly known as the Solar Tour) has annually featured energy efficient, renewably powered, and all around sustainable homes around Minnesota for 25+ years. This year the Sustainable Home Tour will be on Saturday October 1, 2016 with hours from 10am to 3pm.

The School of Music & Mayhem in West Lakeland, MN recently flipped the switch on a new solar PV system that covers 100% of their needs, becoming the first music school in the Midwest to be powered entirely by the sun! Rock on!

To commemorate the event, owner Joe Schertz and eight of his students wrote and recorded a Solar Suite song that is long— 8 minutes and 20 seconds long to be exact.

If you are a nonprofit hoping to save money on your energy bills, and you are located in Xcel Energy and/or CenterPoint Energy service territory, you might want to schedule a visit with EnerChange.

We spoke with Michael T’Kach, Energy Manager with EnerChange, to learn more about how they are helping nonprofits save energy and money to better serve their missions.

The 417-foot, 32-story First National Bank Building in downtown Saint Paul was constructed in 1931 and competed with New York City’s Empire State Building for construction materials. Madison Equities, the new owner of the building as of winter 2015, worked with Petros PACE Finance and the Saint Paul Port Authority to make $6.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades ($5M from Petros and $1.

Tesla is hoping that owners of Minnesota hotels and resorts will want to attract drivers of Tesla vehicles to their property by joining Tesla’s destination charging network. As part of their current program, properties will receive their first two Tesla wall connectors free of charge as long as they are installed in visible or convenient locations.

This article is being re-posted from the original at Midwest Energy News by Frank Jossi.

A new solar installation added to the parking garage roof of a Twin Cities apartment building the largest investment in renewable energy at a multi-family housing site in Minnesota. The 148 kilowatt (kW) project at CityVue Apartments in Eagan sits a top a parking lot next to the 11-story, 113 unit building.

People are interested in reducing their impact and powering their homes, schools, businesses, and organizations, and local governments with wind and solar energy. One way they can do this is through the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, and companies sell them.

RECs can be confusing, so we thought we’d pose five key questions you should ask before buying.
 

1.

EPA’s RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative (RE-Powering) encourages the revitalization and reuse of current and formerly contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites through the development of renewable energy projects, when such development is aligned with a community’s vision for the site.

The mission of the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) is to “deliver research solutions to balance our economy, resources and environment for resilient communities.” On a recent Northeast CERT tour, participants were given a sneak peek at the innovative ways NRRI is fulfilling their mission in the realm of energy.

The U.S. Military and National Guard have been leaders when it comes to adopting clean energy, and Camp Ripley in Little Falls is ahead of the pack in Minnesota.

Communities across Minnesota are looking to take action on clean energy projects, but sometimes knowing where to start, who to involve, and how to get from an idea to a completed project are steps that make the process seem daunting. Making those difficult steps easier, and getting through them faster, is what the Clean Energy Accelerator is all about.

Five Minnesota cities in the Twin Cities Metro have been selected as partners for the Local Government Project for Energy Planning (LoGoPEP), an initiative that is developing energy planning tools for local governments.

The five selected partner cities include Oakdale, Eden Prairie, Falcon Heights, Maplewood, and Saint Louis Park.

As part of our efforts to advance clean energy in the 11-county metro area, Metro CERT is supporting a community-wide effort in Chisago County to engage residents, businesses, cities, and institutions to stop wasting energy dollars and create more sustainable energy from renewable sources such as solar energy via the Chisago Area Clean Energy Hub.

Join NW CERT Aug. 31st in Bemidji for a free event to learn more about electric vehicles! >>

 
Bemidji now has three electric vehicle charging stations available to city residents and visitors. The city of Bemidji, Bemidji State University, North Country Electrical Services, Inc., and Otter Tail Power Company partnered to provide the charging stations and related equipment.

This was reposted with permission from the original blog on the Great Plains Institute website. The Great Plains Institute, one of the CERTs partner organizations, is working with communities across the Midwest to develop local solar resources and capture the economic and environmental value of solar energy.

Community Solar Gardens can be an excellent opportunity for cities, counties, and other local governments to get involved in solar energy and engage community members. Some have already taken action, but many are still wondering whether or not a subscription is the right fit for their local government.

On Thursday, July 14th, over 20 people gathered in Sauk Centre for a tour of LED lighting for businesses and farms. The town was bustling with Sinclair Lewis Days, but CERTs was there to geek out about energy efficient lighting!

Starting at ElmerZ in Sauk Centre, guests learned about REAP, PACE, utility rebates and a variety of useful resources.

The purpose of the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) Grant Program is to identify new technologies, strategies, and program approaches that utilities can implement to help achieve the annual state energy conservation goal of 1.5% as established by the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007.

Minnesota wastewater treatment plants can get help to achieve energy efficiency through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wastewater Infrastructure Accelerator. The Minnesota Department of Commerce is a program partner and will help facilitate assistance for Minnesota plants.

USDA Rural Development offers an array of programs to help improve the economy and quality of life in rural Minnesota. A new Program Summary guide offers an overview of all programs—it’s a must-read resource for learning about how your goals and projects could be supported.

The 40 Under 40 award program from Midwest Energy News seeks to highlight emerging leaders throughout the region who are working to accelerate America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

The program is open to innovators from all sectors—government, business, regulatory, academic, advocacy, and industry—and nominations will be accepted until 12:00pm CT on August 5th.

With energy costs on the rise and the cost of solar PV coming down, farmers like Jim Jorgenson of Westbrook, MN are cashing in on renewable energy. This spring, Jorgenson added a 30kW solar array to the 10kW wind turbine he installed a couple years back.

The Minnesota Waste Wise Foundation Annual Leader Award honors businesses that have made significant strides toward environmentally sustainable business practices. Award winners are an exceptional group of committed organizations that serve as models of excellence in environmentally sustainable operations within their industry and community.