Clean Energy Resource Teams

On October 15th, 2008 from 1:30–3:30pm the Office of Energy Security hosted a webinar on the kickoff of Phase II of the DRG Study.

During the Phase II Webinar, study team lead Jared Alholinna of Great River Energy and Matt Schuerger of the MN Office of Energy Security gave a presentation reviewing the DRG Phase I report to the MN Public Utilities Commission and the steps forward that Phase II will be taking.

Phase I of the DRG study assessed how 600MW of renewable energy could be constructed without building new transmission. Phase II of the DRG study will be assessing the potential of adding another 600MW (or more), for a total of 1200MW of new clean energy.

Cross-posted from Center for American Progress

In The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, acclaimed activist and environmental leader Van Jones tackles the challenges of oil dependence, a sagging economy, and global warming itself, transforming these looming threats into enormous financial opportunities.

Jones gives voice to a different kind of environmentalism, one deeply rooted in the lives and struggles of ordinary people. It’s not about green consumers; it’s about green workers and bringing the environmental movement to the working class. The message of The Green Collar Economy is clear: “Give the work that most needs to be done to the people who most need the work,” solving two pressing problems—pollution and poverty—at once. In turn, you provide people with not just a paycheck, but also a purpose. Like FDR’s New Deal, Jones’s plan involves the government putting people to work for the benefit of the economy. In this “New Green Deal,” workers will be employed to install solar panels, harness wind power, build hybrid engines, etc., which will create a green collar workforce.

In April 2008, the Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) received over 90 submissions for this year’s Request for Proposals to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. This represents nearly a twofold increase in the amount of proposals submitted for spring of 2008, and attests to the tremendous wealth of clean energy projects happening in communities across the state.

Each of the six greater Minnesota steering committees (NE, NW, Central, WC, SW, SE) reviewed the proposals submitted in their region, and through a rigorous process selected 37 projects that highlight a variety of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. CERTs staff wish to commend our steering committee members for all the hard work and many hours of volunteer time they put into this effort.

Brooten, MN – Jerry and Linda Jennissen of Brooten hosted a field day today on their 200 acre, 160 cow dairy farm, featuring a methane digester project that recently became operational.

“We are excited to have begun this project and we think that this is only the beginning of trying to create another revenue stream for our farm, to create clean, renewable energy and make our manure product more environmentally friendly. We think that digesters may be a part of the future for most livestock farms and it is exciting to be at the forefront. It is has been a very challenging but exciting project and we look forward to showcasing it,” said Jerry Jennissen, farm owner.

The methane digester project was part of a pilot-scale research demonstration project, funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Research partners included the Minnesota Milk Producers Association, the Minnesota Project, Stearns County Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the University of Minnesota Departments of Applied Economics and Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering.

On Monday, June 16, 2008 from 1-3pm The Minnesota Department of Commerce gave a web seminar on the Phase 1 results of their Minnesota Dispersed Renewable Generation (DRG) Study. The purpose of the webinar was to inform the public of the first phase results, key findings, and conclusions. The study team gave a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the DRG Phase I report to the MN Public Utilities Commission.

This blog post should allow you to:
1. Understand Dispersed Generation
2. Watch and listen to the DG webinar presentation
3. Get a summary of important slides
4. Learn how to get more info and provide comments on the Study

CREBs in Brief

 
The Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) program is administered by the Internal Revenue Service and provides bond authorization for public entities on a competitive basis for renewable electricity projects. The benefit of the CREB program is that public entities receive the bonds at “zero” percent interest. The revenue or cost savings from the renewable electricity systems are utilized to pay off the bonds.

The program was initially authorized via the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and designed as an alternative to the Production Tax Credit (PTC)—which can be utilized by private renewable energy developers and investor-owned utilities—to be used by cooperative electric and public power utilities. Beyond these utilities other eligible entities include schools, local governments, tribal governments. The program has provided two rounds of bonding authorization—610 projects during the first round and 312 projects in the second round.

 
The Metro CERTs Network Kick-off on April 15th was attended by over 200 people, from elected officials to community members—and everyone in between! It was held at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul, where the main room was buzzing with conversation.

There was good energy, and many great connections made. “It was a very well done get together and I think very beneficial to everyone. You did a great job,” said Ruth Keely. Brian Flanagan felt much the same way: “Great venue last night. Good group of people—excellent for networking. The Food was outstanding; I hope you have more get togethers!” We even dubbed the King and Queen of networking, Beth Bennett and John Dunlop.