News

See what we did there with the blog post title? REAP also stands for Rural Energy for American Program, a grant and loan offering from USDA Rural Development that can help farmers and rural small businesses do renewable energy and energy efficiency work.

Allina Health’s Elk River Clinic offers personalized care services for physical and mental wellness, including OB/GYN, pediatrics, audiology, and surgery. The 30,000 sqft, three-story building recently received some tender loving care of it’s own with major upgrades for energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and occupant comfort.

We’re pretty sure that winter is here, even if it’s been a bit hesitant. As the temperature drops and we turn on our heat, there are many things we can do to keep the warm air in and our heating bills down. The following no-cost and low-cost tips will help Minnesotans save energy, reduce utility bills, and keep their homes safe this heating season.

Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day in Rushford, Minnesota, home to Tri-County Electric Cooperative. After a handful of informative presentations about community solar gardens, attendees got to tour TEC’s own Renewable Ray installation.

Solar is hot, hot, hot right now in Minnesota, and we wanted to share three recent developments featured in the news this week.

Minnesota’s Pine City is a member of the GreenStep Cities Program, which is a voluntary challenge, assistance and recognition program to help cities achieve their sustainability and quality-of-life goals.

A new 30-minute program on Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) captures the importance of having an advanced home energy assessment and the big dividends to be earned from prescribed home improvements.

The program, called Improving Your Home’s Performance, takes the homeowner through the process of getting a home energy assessment, identifying problems, taking action, and measuring successes.

Results from EnergyScoreCards Minnesota, a two-year controlled experiment that included over 550 buildings, found that energy and water benchmarking work as an energy efficiency measure for multifamily buildings in Minnesota. Bright Power and its project partners discovered a 5% energy savings and 30% water savings in the second year among master-metered buildings (i.e.

Do you have outdoor yard lighting on your property? Switching to LEDs might help you reduce your electric bill. We spoke with Brian Jeremiason, Energy Services Manager with Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative, to learn about the program that they are offering their customers.

Minnesota is the #1 turkey producing and processing state in the U.S., with 450 family farmers raising approximately 44 million to 46 million turkeys annually. The cost of energy can have a big impact on the cost of food.

Our old friend Carl Samuelson, Energy Strategy Facilitator with Michaels Energy, recently brought to our attention the great energy efficiency work by management and staff at the Hilton Garden Inn Minneapolis Maple Grove. To learn more, we interviewed Carl and the hotel’s General Manager, Mike Severson.

During the month of October, 2015, folks in Mankato, Staples, and Grand Rapids had a chance to share their input on the Minnesota 2025 Energy Action Plan. CERTs hosted these three events (as well as an event in St.

It was obvious walking into the packed Mayflower Church community room on Thursday, November 12th that residents in South Minneapolis are curious about community solar gardens—there were barely any chairs left in the large room.

On October 22nd, over one hundred people attended the 9th annual gathering of the Metro CERT region. As always, the program provided information, connections to resources, and networking around community clean energy implementation.

Looking for a CERTs Seed Grant project example that educated students and the greater community about energy efficiency AND reduces costs AND improves the lighting quality? Look no further than the Madison, Marietta, Nassau Elementary School! Madison, Minnesota (pop. 1,551) is located in West Central Minnesota.

Interest in solar energy and community solar gardens has exploded this year in Minnesota, and people are hungry for tools that can help them move forward.

To meet the demand, the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) has relaunched the Clean Energy Project Builder website, which helps people find companies that can help them plan, implement, and manage clean energy projects (and now much more).

Since the passage of Minnesota’s 2013 solar legislation there has been a lot of interest in Community Solar Gardens (CSGs), especially in Xcel Energy’s service territory.

USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Landkamer today announced that USDA is awarding 34 grants that will help Minnesota rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy usage and costs in their operations. Funding will go towards energy efficiency improvements and/or renewable energy systems.

Minnesota’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP), a nationally-recognized energy efficiency program, generates at least four dollars in benefits for every dollar invested, according to an independent analysis released today by the Minnesota Commerce Department.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better location for a university with an environmental emphasis in its mission. Poised on the shores of Lake Bemidji, nestled in the northwoods, Bemidji State University (BSU) has long been committed to environmental protection.

A new community solar garden is producing power on the North Shore for members of Arrowhead Electric Cooperative! On October 5th, thirty citizens turned out on a cloudy morning in Lusten to help dedicate the first community solar garden on the North Shore. Arrowhead Electric Cooperative and Great River Energy shared in the planning and development of the 60 KW solar array.

The Greater Northfield Sustainability Collaborative (GNSC) began in August 2013 as an effort to bridge and strengthen local sustainability initiatives at the City of Northfield, Carleton College, St. Olaf College, local non‐profit organizations and community groups.

Have you heard the news? Duluth is one of the final cities competing in the Georgetown University Energy Prize Competition (GUEP) that will award one of 50 cities $5 million for efficient energy saving. Ecolibrium3, one of the main partners in the Duluth Energy effort, used a Northeast CERT Seed Grant to help create two video campaigns completed by Lola Visuals.

RE-fest is a celebration of green living and clean energy focused on educating the community about the positive impact individual actions can have on the environment. Last year’s celebration was Saturday, September 20th from 11am–4pm at the Mower County Fairgrounds in Austin, MN. The energy focus of the event is primarily efficiency and conservation, with renewables being high on the list.

On Thursday, October 1st, over thirty folks gathered in New London’s Little Theatre to learn about the people, organizations, and funding opportunities to help them get their clean energy projects done. Erin Smith, the West Central Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) Coordinator, led things off with a welcome and introductions.