News

The Minneapolis Solar Suitability map is a red, orange, yellow, and grey patchwork of the city’s rooftops. Click on a colored building, and a text box appears, stating “This building has good solar potential!” and an estimate of the total kilowatt-hours of solar energy that the surface could generate each year.

Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards program opened to new applications on August 4. The five-year, $5-million-a-year program will provide Xcel customers who install solar photovoltaic systems up to 20 kW with performance-based incentives paid annually for 10 years, with the incentive for 2014 set at 8 cents per kWh.

A 2010 CARD Energy Conservation Market Analysis report authored by Minnesota Technical Assistance Program identified potential gas and electric savings of about 2,509,532 MCF (8%) and 271,488,000 kWh (7%) respectively in Minnesota’s industrial sector.

Applications are now being accepted for the FY 2015 Biomass Thermal Energy Grant Round. The Request for Proposals should be used for applications to this grant program. MAC Users: Please complete the form using Adobe Reader.

Funding:
$577,500 in funding has been allocated for this round of funding.

Deadline:
The deadline for submissions is October 3, 2014 at 4:00 PM.

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society will be launching a $4 million community solar project this fall with the assistance of a $2.6 million grant from the Renewable Development Fund. This year more than 20 renewable energy projects were funded with $42 million.

Minnesota consumers now have a new energy efficiency home improvement loan program that allows more people to access low-interest, unsecured loans and make important energy efficiency upgrades, thanks to a partnership of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.

The idea of high-level sustainable living for residents of apartment buildings has been a concept in the minds of some in the Twin Cities metro area. Aeon, a non-profit organization, thought about transforming that concept into reality in their apartment housing properties.

It seems like summer has just barely started, but the Minnesota State Fair is just around the corner—August 21-Sept. 1. For the third straight year, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources will host an “Improve Your Home” energy exhibit at the Eco Experience on the north end of the fairgrounds.

All of us, at some point in life, were stuck indoors on a beautiful day, and wished we could be outside. As kids, we’ve daydreamed about our teacher conducting class outside. As adults, we’ve joked with a co-worker about moving a desk outside on a nice afternoon, longing to escape the confines of a stuffy, drab office.

Over 30 people gathered July 16, 2014 in Royalton to tour and learn about exciting clean energy accomplishments and happenings in Royalton, Minnesota! Central Clean Energy Resource Team (Central CERT) hosted the tour in collaboration with the City of Royalton and its local Youth Energy Summit (YES!) Team.

Did you know that Minnesota has an award-winning Solar Dream Team? It’s true! CERTs is helping a talented team of GIS professionals design an online mapping application for solar energy that will serve an array of stakeholders and the energy industry through the coming boom in solar—and they just won a national award for their efforts. Keep reading to get the full story and learn more.

The Minnesota GreenStep Cities program is designed to challenge, assist, and recognize Minnesota cities that are “green stars.” Cities are challenged to work through a series of steps—and recognized for steps they’ve already taken—that increase the community’s sustainability.

Sandstrom’s food distribution warehouse in Grand Rapids has a bright future after completing a recent lighting retrofit. They’ve been enjoying both the energy and money savings that comes with implementing a lighting retrofit.

The existing conditions were outdated with high power usage, yet offering low level light output.

In August 2012, the University of Minnesota began a campus-wide lighting installation process. The LED lighting integrated with digital controls now reduces the energy consumed in stairwells by 90 percent.

Before this project, many of the stairwells were fully illuminated 24 hours per day throughout 120 buildings across campus.

Morrison County has given a green light to a plan to build a solar farm east of Little Falls. The 10-megawatt project is one of several large-scale solar farms expected to be built in Central Minnesota in the next few years.

Geronimo Energy is the company behind the Morrison County project, which will operate under the subsidiary Lindy Solar.

We often receive questions from homeowners about how to get started with energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Recently a gentleman named Jim in Corcoran, MN reached out to us with a question on this topic, and we decided to share the answer with everyone in the hopes that it will help you, too.
 

The Question

Hello,

I am a homeowner in Corcoran (Hennepin County).

An LED street lighting forum was hosted at the League of Minnesota Cities Annual Conference on June 19th, where a packed room of 40 people learned first-hand from a tremendously knowledgeable line-up of speakers from across Minnesota. Is your city in the dark about LED street lighting retrofits? Learn how the technology works, as well as the benefits to your city’s operational budget.

With an acronym that sounded like Roadrunner passing Wile E. Coyote, the Public Building Enhanced Energy Efficiency Program (PBEEEP) contract between the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Center for Energy & Environment (CEE) wrapped up in February 2014. Seventy different sites managed by ten different state agencies participated, with over 900 buildings totaling 31,423,848 square feet.

Plans are underway to expand the solar farm built in 2009 that provides some of the electricity used on the St. John’s campus. Best Power International received a grant from Xcel Energy’s renewable development fund to install solar panels to produce another 200 kilowatts at St. John’s.

Are you planning an extended summer vacation—one week, two weeks, or more? Before leaving town, there are several simple steps you can take to save energy in your home—and save money. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has come up with the 5 money and energy saving tips:

Turn down the temperature on your water heater.

Via a boiler system upgrade and use of local wood fuel, Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, hopes to serve as a case study for other heating districts of its size.

In the food manufacturing business, Joel Manecke says, it’s almost impossible to operate without variable-frequency drives (VFDs).

“It’s pretty critical,” says Manecke, manager of Specialty Products & Technology in Fosston, Minn. “I’ve run dryers in the past that didn’t have anything on them. But if you can’t change fan speeds, you really limit your capabilities.

On Friday, June 20th, cities across Minnesota were recognized for their leadership in sustainability, energy efficiency, and resource conservation. Sixty-nine cities currently participate in the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program, and many of them received awards at the GreenStep Awards Breakfast at the League of Minnesota Cities Annual Conference.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) helps farmers evaluate energy saving opportunities and provides financial assistance to help make energy upgrades happen. EQIP requires an audit first (the program pays for most—if not all—of it).

Minnesota cities have been matched with UMD students this spring to work on sustainability issues, and the collaboration promises a greener Minnesota in the 21st century. Communities are jumping at the opportunity to join a project called Minnesota GreenStep Cities. The cities make a commitment to manage their natural resources and achieve their quality-of-life goals.