News

The CERTs & EnergyMisers, LLC VendingMiser Bulk Buy Opportunity is only available through midnight on Monday, May 2nd! Join the dozens of groups across the state saving energy and making their vending operations more profitable! Fill out our order form to secure your savings, or click here to learn more. The average beverage vending machine costs around $300 to power every year.

The City of Maplewood started an environmental committee in 2004. In September of 2005 the Maplewood City Council adopted an Environmental and Natural Resources Commission ordinance and the committee became a full commission. The city has made some drastic improvements in their older buildings including new energy efficiency boilers, a new HVAC system, and indoor and outdoor lighting upgrades.

Friday, April 8, 2011, Duluth, MN – Duluth spends $200 million a year on energy costs, with $80 million of that in the residential sector, primarily to heat homes.

Central Lakes College, working with Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment, Inc., is currently offering free training in renewable energy and energy efficiency. For dislocated workers and current business employees, the two-part series starts April 18 in the Business and Industry Center on the Brainerd campus. Space is limited, and there are eligibility requirements.

To meet the growing demand among Minnesota residents and businesses for solar energy systems, the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) has just updated an easy-to-use, interactive map of the known solar installers across Minnesota, with information compiled by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security.

Wednesday, March 21, 2011, Minneapolis, MN – Food service businesses—mostly restaurants and grocery stores—use 2.5 times more energy than the average commercial business. Think about it: all the stoves, ovens, heat lamps, dish washers, refrigerators, and fryers turning out meal after meal. It makes sense that they are energy intensive.

MEEA, in partnership with US EPA, is pleased to announce Midwest Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) calls—a series aimed at creating a dialogue to discuss issues relevant to whole-home programs in the Midwest. The target audience for these periodic calls will be staff from organizations that are currently running or considering HPwES or whole-home programs.

The Office of Energy Security is filling an Information Officer 2 position. If you are interested in applying for this position, click here to see the full posting and apply for the job. Overview: Provide professional communication services to the Department of Commerce (DOC), particularly in the Energy Division.

Minnesota farmers are leading the clean energy revolution in the agriculture world, according to a recent report from the USDA. The On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey issued just last month puts Minnesota farms ahead of the pack when it comes to methane production as well as the number and capacity of small wind turbines.

On March 15th, 2011, District Energy St. Paul Inc. (St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.) completed the largest solar thermal project in the upper Midwest region of the United States, located on the roof of the Saint Paul RiverCentre convention center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Now, try not to be overwhelmed…

CERTs has just made available to the public all of the presentations and audio from the CERTs 2011 Clean Energy Convergence that took place on February 2-3 in St.

Join Metro Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT), Affiliates, Partners and Friends to celebrate our fourth year of connecting communities to resources, hear about our first round of seed grants to Twin Cities Metro communities, and learn about our new energy efficiency campaigns and other resources. The program will be followed by refreshments and lots of time for networking.

Three USDA programs are now accepting applications for a slate of new funding for biofuel production and use. Announced on March 14, as much as $573 million in funding will be available through loan guarantees, financial assistance and producer payments.

This post is from the Energy $ense blog by Energy Smart.

The Center for Energy & Environment, a Minneapolis energy efficiency organization, is now offering no-interest loans to 501©3 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota looking to make energy improvements.

The funding for this program was made available through federal stimulus funding received by the Minnesota Office of Energy Security.

Region Nine Development Commission is working with Windustry, a national nonprofit focusing on community wind, to develop a Small Wind Bulk-Buy Program across nine counties—Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan.

Minnesota may have another round or two of winter weather, but it is never too early to begin planning for spring gardening. The Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) is once again offering an easy solution to green up your backyard this spring by providing inexpensive rain barrels and compost bins for Minnesota residents at wholesale price.

CERTs is helping entrepreneurs in Minnesota learn, connect, and act! This 10-minute video, hosted by Northeast CERT Coordinator, Bill Mittlefehldt, allows members of the Minnesota business community that attended the CERTs 2011 Conference to tell stories about how they’re saving energy, making money, creating jobs, and improving their communities.

Hennepin County is looking for local faith-based communities to use a recently updated toolkit for congregations to educate and engage their members in environmental actions.

Thursday, March 3, 2011, Eveleth, MN – Nearly 50 people filled the room at Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) to learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy projects going on across the Range at an event co-hosted by Northeast Clean Energy Resource Team (NE CERT) and Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability. You can click here to see the full agenda.

March 1, 2011, Crookston, MN – Twenty people gathered for a “Meet ‘n Greet” tour of Dahlgren & Company, Inc., hosted by the Northwest Clean Energy Resource Teams (NW CERT) on February 24th. This “Meet ‘n Greet” was the first in a series of site visits hosted by NW CERT, to highlight energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts underway around the Northwest region.