News

Oak Park Heights sees the light: Leading the way with LEDs and solar PV

The riverside city of Oak Park Heights knows when to take advantage of a good opportunity. The city received an Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) in 2009 through the U. S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Oak Park Heights used the EECBG funding to improve its energy efficiency and conservation efforts.

Local Government Lighting Retrofits: Inspiring Over 25,000 Efficient Bulb Upgrades in MN

What’s an efficiency project that most anyone can do? Lighting! Be it in your home, your business, your school or your government office, lighting uses a lot of energy. According to the Energy Information Administration website, “EIA estimates that in 2010, about 499 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity were used for lighting by the residential and commercial sectors.

Department of Education accepting applications for National Green Ribbon Schools recognition

Throughout Minnesota, schools are making a conscious effort to promote energy efficiency—both in the classroom and in practice. For the second year, the Minnesota Department of Education is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to recognize these schools with the Green Ribbon Schools program.

Local Government Energy Action: Launching a Year-Long Series of Success Stories

Over the past three years, Minnesota’s local units of government—including municipalities, counties, and schools—have been hard at work completing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

Faucet aerators are great for water and energy savings, but when should you use them?

10/24/2012

Businesses and homeowners pay for water three times — once to buy it from a utility, once to heat it using natural gas or electricity, and once to dispose of it as wastewater. That’s why high-efficiency faucet aerators can save business owners and homeowners a lot of money. But not every situation is a good fit, so it’s important to keep a few things in mind.

CERTs welcomes Alexis Troschinetz as our new Behavior Change and Metrics Coordinator

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are very pleased to welcome Alexis Troschinetz to our staff as the new Behavior Change and Metrics Coordinator.

Alexis has over 7 years of experience working for a variety of stakeholders as an Environmental Engineer at consulting firms ARCADIS and Bonestroo (merging with Stantec).

KidWind's new effort to teach about clean energy includes science kits and comics

Michael Arquin and the folks at KidWind are innovating again with the hopeful launch of KidWind and Friends: Clean Energy Science Kits and Comics. The KidWind and Friends campaign aims to launch a series of renewable energy science kits and a cast of exciting comic book characters.

New Home Energy Improvement Index drives cost-effective retrofits for existing homes

The Center for Energy and Environment has developed a home energy efficiency index for use with its residential energy program, targeted at cost-effective retrofits for existing homes. We spoke with Carl Nelson, Manager of Residential Programs, to learn more.

Turkey producers in Minnesota gobble up less energy with LED lighting

First of all, a turkey joke: Q: Why didn’t the turkey want any lunch? A: He was already stuffed! Now that we have that out of our system… Minnesota is ranked number one in the country for turkey production. Nice work, Minnesota! The state is home to about 250 turkey farmers who operate about 600 different turkey farms.

Looking to fund your farm or business solar project? USDA can help!

10/18/2018

The USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a wide variety of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, including solar PV and solar thermal projects. The program, administered by USDA Rural Development, offers grants and loan guarantees to any agricultural producer or rural small business.

City of Rogers At-A-Glance

The City of Rogers, a new member of the Metro CERT Affiliate Network, is making huge strides in energy efficiency. Since 2009, Rogers has worked with the Center for Energy and Environment and Xcel Energy to retrofit lighting in 8 of its 9 public buildings. Just in the past year, the city also converted 100% of its traffic lights and its municipal liquor store exterior lighting to LED technology.

Solar Works in Rosemount: Why the Rosemount shamrock isn't just kelly green

Rosemount isn’t shy about its Irish roots. The city flag proudly features a kelly-green shamrock; the high school sports teams are the fighting Irish; and if you visit in July, you’ll be welcomed to celebrate in the annual Leprechaun days.

International Bioenergy Days Coming to Mankato October 7th

The International Bioenergy Days Conference is for business people who want to gain the competitive edge in biomass for residential use, district heating and cooling, biofuels for transportation, and biomaterials.

The conference will unite business people globally to enhance producers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs who envision renewable resources as the next economic stimulus for the U.S.

Agenda overview now available for CERTs 2013 Conference: Community-Driven Clean Energy

CERTs 2013 will be an exploration and celebration of successful energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and a coming together of hundreds of amazing people who are working to create a clean energy future in their communities and beyond. The conference will be held on February 20-21, 2013 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, MN.

Saint Paul plug-in vehicle celebration demystifies electric vehicles, financial accessibility

Interest continues to build around electric vehicles (EVs) and the growing infrastructure to support their successful implementation. Read more about a recent Saint Paul event that highlighted the vehicles, a solar-powered charging station and lots of happy EV owners.

September 23 was the second annual National Plug-In Vehicle day.

Estimated 250,000 visit Energy Solutions Home at State Fair

About 250,000 people visited the Eco Experience at this year’s Minnesota State Fair and virtually all of those fairgoers checked out the Energy Solutions Home (ESH), the centerpiece of the Eco Experience that was sponsored and coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources (DER).

Could we reach 80% renewable electricity by 2050? New study: Renewable Electricity Futures

A report published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures), is an initial investigation of the extent to which renewable energy supply can meet the electricity demands of the continental United States over the next several decades.

Ever wondered if anyone has a good Spanish language home energy efficiency guide?

Earlier today I ran across this new brochure from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy office in a email blast from the Western’s Energy Experts eNews.

CERTs welcomes Michelle Palm as our new Southeast CERT Coordinator

The Clean Energy Resource Teams are very pleased to welcome Michelle Palm to our staff as the new Southeast CERT Coordinator.

Michelle just graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in May 2012, where she got a degree in Environmental Studies, focusing on International Issues and Peace Studies.

Want to save energy on heating costs this winter? Here are 10 things you can do

If you’re anything like my family, this cool weather gets you thinking about what you can do to save energy heating your home this fall and winter. Here are some things you can do in the next couple months (if you haven’t already):

Things you should do now to save on heating costs:

Change your furnace filter every 1-2 months, unless it is filter specifically designed for longer life.

Additional small wind turbines provisionally certified by Small Wind Certification Council

Last week, the Endurance S-343 and Eveready Kestrel e400 joined 7 other models in reaching Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC) milestones.

Need an electric car charging station at work? Here's one for FREE

If you drive an electric or plug-in car and drive to work every day in it, you’ve probably given the topic of workplace charging stations some thought.

Convincing your boss to shell out company cash for a charging station might not be that easy, but now charging station provider ChargePoint wants to help you sweeten the deal through its new JumpStart program.

Could you help the U.S. Army meet their 25% by 2025 Renewable Energy Standard goal?

A year ago, the U.S. Army’s Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF) was approved by Secretary of the Army, John M. McHugh, with the goal to enhance the Army’s commitment to energy security and sustainability.

Now the Army is looking for business partners in Minnesota and across the country to help them meet their 25% by 2025 Renewable Energy Standard.

The Heat is On (But I'm Still Saving Money)

As summer winds down, and the nights start to take on a little chill, I’ve started thinking about the winter heating season again. We have a geothermal heating system in our house which is fairly efficient, but I’m always looking for more ways to save energy and money. To that end, I went out and purchased a programmable thermostat last weekend.

Minnesota Vikings score clean energy touchdown: Tackling energy use with Juhl Wind

I’m a huge fan of the Minnesota Vikings (even considered getting the solar panels on my home in purple), and an even bigger fan of wind energy, so the news this week that the Vikings are planning to tackle their energy use in partnership with Juhl Wind is a major touchdown.

Search

Sign up to stay in the loop!