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White Bear Lake, a city located just 10 miles northeast of downtown Saint Paul, calls itself the land of lakes and legends. Once a popular resort area attracting visitors from all along the Mississippi River, White Bear Lake still brings in tourists with its small-town charm and big-city attractions.

Elk River was named Energy City in 1997 when the Minnesota Environmental Initiative chose it from over 30 other communities to act as a geographical focal point for the demonstration of efficient and renewable energy products, services, and technologies. Given this status, the city is continuously striving to act as a model for energy efficiency and create new and challenging energy saving goals.

The City Hall in Hopkins, Minnesota is a busy place—it houses Community Services, Planning and Economic Development, Engineering, Finance, and after a 20,000 square foot renovation in 2006, the Police Department. With so many important city functions under one roof, it’s a priority to keep the building operating smoothly, especially in a region known for temperature extremes.

Linden Hills Power and Light has quite the green report card. Originally created with the goal of shrinking the community’s local carbon footprint, Linden Hills Power and Light (LHP&L) has utilized education efforts, community engagement and organizing to promote sustainable habits and energy conservation.

The City of Oakdale (Metro CERT affiliate since 2008) is a regional leader in civic sustainability thanks to the leadership of its City Council and Environmental Management Commission (EMC). In 2008, the EMC took the first step by committing to quantify the city’s carbon footprint and use that information to seek opportunities for emissions reductions.

The City of Chisholm’s 100-year-old City Hall Complex was in need of efficiency upgrades. Heat was not being dispersed evenly or efficiently throughout the building and lights were out-of-date and inefficient.

At the CERTs 2013 Conference, a half day of in-depth workshops and an evening reception on February 20th, 2013 will be followed by a full day of sessions, networking time, and exhibits on the 21st. With the conference less than three weeks away, we’re excited to share with you the full agenda for both days of the conference, complete with workshop and session descriptions and speaker names.

There are already 300 people registered for the CERTs 2013 Conference, with many more joining each day. We hope you’ll choose to come, too—but we know you want to find out what you’ll get out of the program! The CERTs Conference is two days—February 20-21, 2013. It’s taking place at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, MN.

The City of North St. Paul, which may be best known by metro area locals as the home of a giant snowman accompanied by a wind turbine (both visible from State Highway 36 between highways 35E and 694), proved last week that smaller cities can have a huge impact when it comes to energy efficiency. Back in the summer of 2012, City of North St.

Minnkota Power Cooperative’s PowerSavers program has distributed nearly 2,300 energy-savings kits to area schools. Each kit contains energy-efficient devices that, if installed properly, can help save about 1,700 kilowatthours or $200 each year. Rarely can fifth- and sixth-graders at Goodridge Elementary School say they saved their family money by finishing a homework assignment.

Located just southeast of St. Paul, between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, the City of Woodbury, a Metro CERT Affiliate since January of 2010, has a track record of positioning itself as a leader in sustainability.

The 5th Statewide CERTs Conference – Community-Driven Clean Energy – is coming up on February 20-21, 2013 in Saint Cloud, and more than ever before it will be focused on conversations and action. You should return home with connections, project ideas, and even collaborators who live and work in your part of the state.

As a small business owner, Molly Luther of the The Good Life Cafe in Park Rapids knows first hand how important it is to save money. Luther is one of many businesses and other groups taking part in the Minnesota Water-Saving Bulk Buy from the Clean Energy Resource Teams. She was recently interviewed by Lakeland Public Television for a feature story.