Clean Energy Resource Teams

There are a number of solar power and small wind installers in Minnesota, and CERTs has put together a map of them so that you can look for those nearest you. Click on a company in the menu to learn more about them. For frequently asked questions on solar and small wind, see MN Office of Energy documents: I want my own solar system and Can I have a wind turbine?

Map created using MapChannels.com                                                                                                 View full screen map

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.

With energy costs on the rise and low-income families feeling the greatest pressure, the Otter Tail-Wadena Community Action Council and the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance are teaming up to weatherize homes and install solar heat systems, with a little help from the Central Clean Energy Resource Team.

Fuel Poverty

 
Energy costs are on the rise and predicted to continue growing over the winter heating season—with home energy bills rising right along with them. This will have a dramatic impact on families across the “frost belt” who need to stay warm, many of whom were not able to pay their bills last winter. Rising energy costs have been all over the news, but only a few articles have focused specifically on the impact these heating costs will have on low-income Americans, who already contribute an average 35% of their income to home heating (States prepare for home heating crisis & Falling into ‘fuel poverty’). Fuel poverty is a real issue when a family has to choose whether to heat their home or buy food, and with the economy’s current state, more families than ever before will be falling into the home energy affordability gap.

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.

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, October 6, 2008. Solar is the big winner after the US Congress passed the tax credits extensions for renewable energy generation on Friday 3 October as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Solar saw its Investment Tax Credits (ITC) extended by eight years and the lifting of the US$2,000 cap on residential installation tax credits, whereas the wind industry only received a one year extension of its Production Tax Credit (PTC).

An authorisation of US$800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities was also included in the Bill. Michael Liebreich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at renewable energy analysts New Energy Finance, welcomes the extensions: “The measures attached to the Bill could hardly be of greater significance to the clean energy industry. Just as it looked like investment activity might be drying up with the general evaporation of credit, and despite the industry’s strong fundamentals, the US Cavalry arrived.”

You betcha, Powershift will soon be making a visit to the great state of Minnesota. The home of nice people, hotdish, Garrison Keillor, the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party, community wind, the highest voter participation rates in the country, and the Mall of America now has its very own Powershift!

Minnesota Powershift 2008 is much more than a conference. It is part of a process of building people power around a vision for a clean energy economy and a sustainable future that can unite rural farmers, inner-city residents, labor leaders, small businesses, students, and local governments. It is a recognition of our own role in making change, bridging the gaps between our personal lives and the sweeping changes that must be made. Its time to build a climate positive society, one that has moved beyond “limiting the damage” we do to the global environment and oppressed communities and instead engages proactively and eagerly in the opportunities inherent in a post-carbon society.

On August 19th the Southeast Clean Energy Resource Team toured two green landmarks in the Twin Cities: The Green Institute’s Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center Building in Minneapolis and District Energy in St. Paul. Let me take a few moments to share with you what we learned!

Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center

 
From 1:30-2:30pm our group toured The Green Institute’s Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center. The Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center (PEEC) is The Green Institute’s flagship and a national model of comprehensive sustainable design. The building was a pilot for and helped inform the creation of the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (USGBC’s LEED), which has in the last ten years risen within the green building movement as the preeminent national green building standard.

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.

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.