News

Lissa Pawlisch and Diana McKeown of the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) announce the launch of the new CERTified Campaigns at the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society’s 30th Anniversary Gala on February 19th, 2010.

The CERTified Campaigns program will provide Minnesotans with clear and actionable ways to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in their community.

What are green appliances? With all the buzz about efficient appliances lately, you might have heard of “vampire power” or “phantom loads”. This is the electricity that is used by your appliances even when they are not in use. The most common culprits of this tragedy are the plasma screen televisions, gaming systems, computers, and stereo set-ups.

From the New York Times article Made in the U.S.A.: Efficiency Materials by Kate Galbraith

While solar and wind manufacturers struggle to fend off Chinese competition, energy efficiency equipment seems to have no such problem.

February 2-3, 2011 Saint Cloud Civic Center 10 4th Avenue South, Saint Cloud, MN 56301 Join CERTs and hundreds of other Minnesotans for our fourth biennial conference! CERTs connects you and your community members with resources to identify and implement energy efficiency & renewable energy projects. The conference website will continue to grow as the event approaches at 2011.MNCERTs.org.

The Rochester Area 2010 Think Green Fair will take place from 10am-9pm on June 26th, 2010 at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds, Graham Park.

It’s true that the cash-for-appliances program that began Monday in Minnesota ran out of money Tuesday morning. But don’t loose hope! Many utilities across the state are still offering their own rebates for new ENERGY STAR appliances, as well as incentives for trading in your old appliances! Check to see if your utility has rebates for ENERGY STAR appliance purchases and/or related programs.

Consumers would collect on-the-spot rebates of $1,000 or more for buying insulation, water heaters or other equipment to make their homes burn energy more efficiently under a rebate program President Barack Obama is promoting.

Obama traveled to Savannah, Ga., on Tuesday to outline the Home Star program, which was left out of the jobs bill in December.

All rebate funds have been reserved for the Minnesota Trade-in & Save Appliance Program! This means that applications are no longer being accepted at http://www.mnappliancerebate.com.

You’ve heard about it; you’ve known it was coming…but this morning, Monday, March 1st at 8am it goes live!

It’s your chance to save $200 on a new ENERGY STAR Appliance…and to recycle that old clunker! Get the full scoop here: appliancerebates.mncerts.

The Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are kicking off their new “CERTified Campaigns” program today with their first campaign aimed at placing 200 VendingMisers on cold-drink vending machines, resulting in energy savings of over 335,000 kilowatt hours per year—which amounts to roughly $26,800.

The Minnesota Office of Energy Security, Department of Commerce announced yesterday that their residential solar electric and solar hot water rebates are now available. Applications for Minnesota’s new Residential Solar Electric and Solar Hot Water Rebates are now available at www.energy.mn.gov.

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to increasing energy efficiency and reducing costs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy announced today the creation of the State Energy Efficiency (SEE) Action Network.

5 Unique Ways to Go Green if You’re Living in a Dorm by Zach Miners in U.S. News and World Report features St.Olaf College.

Opening paragraph: College is often termed the best years of your life. Now, recent trends suggest that it is also becoming pretty green.

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is seeking up to three communities who want to learn how to capitalize on the assets of renewable energy to increase their local economies. As part of the grant, SMIF will provide up to $15,000 for community projects along with training and coaching.

Over 1,000 people are already signed up to attend the Greentech Media sponsored Webinar on U.S. PV manufacturing being held this Wednesday, January 27.

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society is turning 30 years old, and they have big plans for their celebration on Friday, February 19, 2010 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul.

The Office of Energy Security, Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Community Action Partnerships received an award from the U.S. Department of Energy last week recognizing them for putting stimulus dollars for Minnesota’s weatherization program to good work.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $132 million in weatherization assistance funds.

Retailers and interested members of the public should join the Minnesota Office of Energy Security for a webinar on January 15th from 11am-12pm to review the upcoming appliance rebate program that will be specific to Minnesota residents. The webinar agenda is as follows:     1. Program Overview     2. Program Eligibility & Requirements     3. Program Delivery & Online Experience     4.

As we kick off 2010, we are excited to announce the projects awarded CERTs seed grants in each of the seven Minnesota CERTs regions. These catalyzing grants of up to $11,000 will help projects garner further funding and bring communities together in identifying and implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

The federal stimulus bill gave money to state governments earmarked for energy-savings initiatives. Minnesota is using $4.1 million of its federal funding to provide grants to commercial, industrial and nonprofit property owners planning to make substantial energy-efficiency and/or renewable-energy improvements in 2010 and 2011.

As big storms and frigid temperature descend on the Twin Cities, some lucky homeowners are getting expert help battening down the hatches and lowering their utility bills. The bonus? It’s costing them peanuts.

Image by David Joles, Star Tribune

Two Twin Cities nonprofits are making homes more energy-efficient. The cost to homeowners: $30 each. Their utility-bill savings average $127 a year.

NW CERT is hiring a coordinator to help staff their region of Minnesota. The Coordinator will be instrumental in working with various organizations and individuals to move community-scale projects forward within the region by connecting people with the technical resources they need to identify and implement local energy efficiency and clean energy projects.

It has already been a cold winter, and we are just getting started! Before too much of that air you are heating sneaks out of your home, consider doing some work to tighten up your home and make it more efficient and comfortable this winter.