Northwest Blog Posts
Bringing you news about clean energy projects and opportunities happening across the state. Tell your story.
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Dan Thiede
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 9:24am
CERTs is pleased to announce that next Monday, May 21st we will open a request for proposals (RFP) for technical assistance to catalyze community energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. So stay tuned for that announcement, or sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss it.
Each region has $10,000 to award. Each team’s Steering Committee will make its own selections and project funding levels will vary by region. Projects can apply for up to the full $10,000 in their region, but historically regions have funded multiple projects in each region. See more information below about previously funded projects.
We awarded grants in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The amount varies depending on the year and the project.
All projects
This map includes all projects ever funded by CERTs, color-coded by the year the award was...
Dan Thiede
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 8:04am
Before your calendar starts filling up for February 2013, we want to make sure you mark off February 20-21, 2013 (a Wednesday and Thursday) so that you can join us for the fifth biennial Clean Energy Resource Teams statewide conference!
What can you expect? We can’t tell you exactly what the agenda will look like, but we do know that the event will be an exploration and celebration of successful energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and that it will be a coming together of hundreds of amazing people who are working to create a clean energy future in their communities and beyond. After the conference you will return home and to work with tangible and practical information for planning projects, as well as great connections to help you move forward and continue collaborating....
Chris May
Wed, 05/02/2012 - 12:19pm
On May 15 (only two weeks away!) the Renewable Materials Summit: Markets for Building the Biorefinery will take place in Fargo, North Dakota. The event will highlight and explore the companies and markets that are driving opportunities for returns on investment that leverage the emerging bioeconomy.
We spoke with Tim Welle, Program Manager with The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, to learn a little bit more. You can click here to register for the event or learn more.
Joel Haskard: What can people expect to learn at the Renewable Materials Summit?
Tim Welle: Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the emerging biobased economy. The world is changing for manufacturers and original equiptment manufacturers (OEMs) as petroleum prices increase and consumer demand shifts toward safer materials. Local...
Joel Haskard
Tue, 05/01/2012 - 7:52am
The Midwest is home to a wealth of energy resources, which vary considerably by state. How those resources are deployed will impact the region’s economy, landscape, environment, and public health. A new online resource, The Power Almanac of the American Midwest, has been designed to allow you to flexibly and dynamically explore the region’s electric resources, opportunities, and challenges. We spoke with Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director of the Great Plains Institute, to learn more.
Joel Haskard: How did the Power Almanac of the Midwest come about?
Rolf Nordstrom: The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Great Plains Institute (GPI) have worked together since 2007 to help policymakers and a very diverse range of interests—from utilities and environmental...
Shaun Daniel
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 1:16pm
Direct energy use accounts for between 5 and 7 percent of farm expenditures. In terms of electricity used, Minnesota dairies show the largest energy costs, followed by corn growers (for grain drying especially), swine, soybeans, and other agricultural crops.
According to Barry Ryan and Douglas G. Tiffany, “dairy farmers used 376 million kWh of electricity, or 600 kWh per year for a typical cow producing 15,000 pounds of milk annually.” For dairy farmers, electricity is the single biggest energy cost.
The Minnesota Project, a key CERTs partner, highlights ways that farmers can save energy by becoming more energy efficient, and thus save money. As such, I’d like to draw your attention to a number of new resources on The Minnesota Project’s website....
Joel Haskard
Tue, 04/24/2012 - 1:03pm
There are lots of ways for convenience and grocery stores to reduce their overhead costs with simple energy efficiency and conservation efforts. We spoke with Jon Fabre, Senior Program Design Specialist with Otter Tail Power Company (Otter Tail), to learn about innovative ways that Otter Tail is working with their customers to reduce commercial refrigeration costs.
Joel Haskard: Tell us a little bit about the scope and goals of your pilot project focused on commercial refrigeration.
Jon Fabre: The goal of the project was to pilot a new approach to increasing market awareness and customer participation in our Minnesota Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) Commercial Refrigeration program. The project scope included:
Focusing on retail grocery, liquor stores, and convenience stores in geographic areas close to Fergus Falls, MN.
We contacted...
Joel Haskard
Wed, 04/18/2012 - 8:29am
Michaels Energy is an energy efficiency consulting company looking to partner with Minnesota convenience stores and utilities in a unique opportunity to save energy and money. We spoke with Ralph Dickinson to learn more.
Joel Haskard: Tell us a little bit about this project.
Ralph Dickinson: Michaels Energy has been awarded a grant by the Minnesota Division of Energy Resources to study energy usage in convenience stores and to develop a program specific to Minnesota to save energy in those stores.
Joel: What is the objective of this project?
Ralph: This program will focus on low-cost and no-cost measures for implementation and will identify more substantial opportunities as well. Michaels’s experience with similar programs in other states indicates that savings of up to 20% can be achieved with such a program.
Joel: How many...
Michael Triplett
Tue, 04/17/2012 - 8:50am
With a very large energy usage footprint the White Earth Nation tribal government is becoming more involved in implementing energy conservation measures and adopting renewable energy technologies. The tribal nation encompasses all of Mahnomen County and two northern tiers of townships in northern Becker and several townships western Clearwater counties, totaling more than 937,400 acres.
We remodeled the former RTC building to consolidate all tribal health division offices at one site. The building was renovated with HUD Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) funds and assistance through the DOE Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG). Addressing a number of the issues identified in an earlier energy audit, new windows and doors were...
Brittney Bray
Tue, 04/03/2012 - 11:04pm
A new application from Opower, Facebook, and NRDC lets users manage home energy consumption on a Facebook dashboard, comparing their usage with friends, with the end goal being to save energy.
Opower, Facebook, and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined with 16 utilities to launch the social energy app, with an initial reach of 20 million households. “Leveraging the Facebook platform, the app allows people to quickly and easily start benchmarking their home’s energy usage against similar homes, compare energy use with friends, enter energy-saving competitions, and share tips on how to become more energy efficient,” according to Opower’s press release.
How does it work? To use the app, you log in with your Facebook account. Once you do that, you will see a...
Michelle Vigen
Fri, 03/30/2012 - 12:19pm
A great article by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit think-and-do tank, summarizes some of the innovations at the South by Southwest Interactive event. I’ve mentioned “gamification” before, but his article really brings some concepts home and offers a great example of how gamification can be applied to transportation.
First, they acknowledge the challenge of behavior change:
Most people say they care about saving energy—for either financial or environmental reasons,” said Yoav Lurie, founder of Simple Energy. “But, like in weight loss, smoking cessation, and personal finance, caring is often an...
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