Southeast Blog Posts
Brittney Bray
Mon, 02/20/2012 - 4:15pm
Environmental Initiative, a nonprofit organization that builds partnerships to develop collaborative solutions to environmental problems, is now accepting applications for the 2012 Environmental Initiative Awards. Projects must be collaborative, partnership-based, and have achieved positive environmental outcomes for Minnesota.
Nominations will be accepted through Friday, March 2. Self-nominations are welcome. New this year, each person who submits a nomination will receive one free ticket to attend the awards ceremony and dinner on Thursday, May 24.
Nominations will be accepted in these five categories:
Business and Environment
Energy and Climate Protection
Environmental Education
Natural Resource Protection and Restoration
Sustainable Communities
More details:
...
Joel Haskard
Mon, 02/13/2012 - 3:59pm
Do you have a clean energy project in your community that could use the help of a talented University of Minnesota student? The Community Assistantship Program provides student research assistance to cities and organizations anywhere in greater Minnesota.
The Community Assistantship Program is pleased to announce a summer 2012 grant program. The grant will allow rural communities to hire a student to work on a project defined by those communities. The deadline for project proposals is March 15th, 2012. Approved projects will run from May 28th to August 26th, 2012.
Winning communities will review job applications and select the student who best meets their needs. Eligible organizations include community groups, organizations, and local governments outside the seven county metro.
Click here for more details and how to apply >>
What...
Diana McKeown
Wed, 02/08/2012 - 3:30pm
More than 100 Minnesota local government officials and business leaders gathered recently at the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus—along with more than 50 on a live webinar—to talk about retrofitting buildings. The event was officially called the Forum on Energy Savings: Retrofitting Programs for Minnesota Cities, Counties, and Businesses.
According to Senator Al Franken, who convened the event, renovating buildings to make them more energy-efficient—called retrofitting—saves money, improves real-estate values, strengthens our infrastructure—and could be the next big thing for Minnesota’s economy. Energy-efficient retrofits will also create badly-needed jobs in both the construction and manufacturing industries.
Senator Al Franken joined with a number of Minnesota partners to hold this forum, including the Clean Energy Resource Teams,...
Dan Thiede
Tue, 02/07/2012 - 12:00pm
Pat Longmire has owned a grocery store in Spring Grove, MN for 22 years. He knows customers at Red’s IGA want fresh produce, quality meats, and weekly deals that save a buck here and there. But he wasn’t sure how customers would react after he put glass doors on the coolers in the store. Longmire didn’t have to worry for long, however.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” he said. Longmire used a grant from USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to purchase and install the doors. The doors resulted in a savings of about $500 per month on heating, cooling and electricity bills.
“It’s the smartest thing we could have done,” he said. “You get return on your investment back quickly.”
With rising energy costs and the grocery industry trying to be more energy efficient, Longmire knew the...
Joel Haskard
Tue, 01/24/2012 - 5:26pm
As we kick off 2012, we are excited to announce the projects awarded CERTs seed grants in each of the seven Minnesota CERTs regions. Each region awarded $10,000 worth of seed grants, catalyzing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the state. The funding is provided by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.
There were 27 seed grants awarded in total, across a broad spectrum of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Many projects also include components of education, outreach and community building, and research. Read on for all of the details! Thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal. To learn more about past funded projects, our CERTs-Supported Projects page.
Download a PDF with all projects >>...
Dan Thiede
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 12:58pm
USDA Rural Development is seeking applications to provide assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Funding is available from USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill.
The REAP program is designed to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses reduce energy costs and consumption and meet the nation’s critical energy needs. For 2012, USDA has approximately $25.4 million in budget authority available to fund REAP activities, which will support at least $12.5 million in grants and approximately $48.5 million in guaranteed loans.
USDA is accepting the following applications:
Renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvement grant applications and combination grant and...
Brittney Bray
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 10:31am
Throughout Minnesota, schools are making a conscious effort to promote energy efficiency – both in the classroom and in practice. Now, the Minnesota Department of Education is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to recognize these schools with the newly launched Green Ribbon Schools program.
The program seeks to highlight schools across the nation who are working every day to set a great example by saving energy and reducing operating costs, creating environmentally friendly learning spaces, promoting student health and providing environmental education to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum.
To be considered for the program, a school will have achieved or made considerable progress toward the three pillars established in the program:
energy efficient buildings;
healthy students and school environment; and
environmental literacy of all graduates....
Brittney Bray
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 1:19pm
This Fairmont Sentinel Article was originally posted by Jodelle Greiner, staff writer on December 30 2011.
Sites are being prepared for 18 turbines between Guckeen and Blue Earth, which will make up the The Big Blue Wind Farm. The work is set to be completed in 2012. Fagan Inc. already has been hard at it to make it happen.
When you’re building wind turbines, you have to do a lot to prepare the ground to hold those large structures, says Dustin Shively, project engineer with Exergy Development Group of Idaho.
The Big Blue Wind Farm will have 18 turbines between Guckeen and Blue Earth, north of County Road 16. The work is set to be completed in 2012. Fagan Inc. already has been hard at it to make it happen.
Already done is grading roads...
Julia Eagles
Wed, 01/18/2012 - 8:04am
Want to save energy in your multifamily building but need some tools and support? Look no further! EnergyScoreCards Minnesota is a two-year effort to implement energy benchmarking and monitoring at hundreds of multifamily buildings in Minnesota. And did we mention participation is free?
This pilot project is taking place in Xcel Energy and CenterPoint service territories in the Twin Cities, as well as in the cities of Austin, Mankato, Owatonna, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
The project aims to demonstrate the benefits of energy tracking to multifamily owners, property managers and tenants in reducing utility spending, energy and water consumption and carbon emissions. Participants will receive up to two years of free access to the EnergyScoreCards tool—a premier online service to help multifamily building owners reduce utility...
Lissa Pawlisch
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 1:58pm
Local Government PBEEEP is a program offered through the Department Of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources. PBEEEP, which stands for Public Buildings Enhanced Energy Efficiency Program, addresses energy efficiency in public buildings across Minnesota through a targeted recommissioning/ retrocommissioning (RCx) and retrofit project focus.
Energy affecting and energy consuming equipment, systems, and operations practices are evaluated to identify energy conservation opportunities that result in cost savings for the Local Government Unit (LGU). The majority of projects will follow a 4-phase project process: screening, investigation, implementation, and verification. A key component of PBEEEP is that the program provides LGUs access to project funding through a combination of co-funding and lease-purchase financing without the need...
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