Midwest Energy News’ 40 Under 40 award program highlights emerging leaders throughout the region and their work in America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

This year’s cohort of Midwest-based leaders and innovators from all sectors—industry, government, regulatory, business, academic, and advocacy—have just been announced.

Midwest Energy News 40 Under 40 award program

The 23rd Annual Lake Superior Harvest Festival took place at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park on Saturday, September 10th. Nearly 6,000 people attend this popular event to chat with their favorite local farmers, pick up delicious local produce, jams and baked goods, and explore local arts and crafts vendors.

Lake Superior Harvest Festival

I have always wanted a space of my own to work on my varied and numerous projects—everything from painting to furniture restoration to various excuses to use all of my power tools. A need to store work equipment and tools helped push me to action, so three years ago I finished half of my detached two-stall garage in order to create this space.

Solar air heat system on Sarah Hayden Shaw's "Shopfice"

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson asks livestock producers to apply for a portion of $2 million in grants available for on-farm improvements.

“Livestock Investment Grants help farmers stay competitive and reinvest in their industry. Last year, we had 104 livestock farmers receive grants to improve their operation,” said Frederickson.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Metro CERT welcomes Gordy Moore to their crew for the school year!

Gordy will be assisting the Sustainable Communities team at Great Plains Institute (GPI), working most closely with the Metro CERT program in addition to supporting Minnesota GreenStep Cities and the Grow Solar partnership.

Katie Hosch joined the Great Plains Institute in September of 2016 as a Minnesota GreenCorps member for one year of service. Welcome!

Katie will be fulfilling a unique position, working to help cities improve and maintain energy efficiency in public buildings.

Katherine Hosch

Duluth Mayor Emily Larson proclaimed August 26th to be “Solar Storage Awareness Day” in Duluth during the commissioning ceremony of a new solar PV and battery storage system at the Hartley Nature Center. We spoke with Bret Pence, project specialist with Ecolibrium3 and co-leader on the Hartley Nature Center Solar Plus Storage Upgrade project, which can now store 14.2 kWh of energy.

Hartley Nature Center in Duluth renovated its solar energy system and added battery backup

On September 20th, 2016 nearly 40 people gathered at the Shoreview Community Center to learn about community solar gardens and network with experts and developers.

Community Solar Gardens are centrally located solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that produce electricity for participating subscribers. They’re great for people that want to go solar but are unable to do so on their own.

Trevor Drake, Metro CERT Co-Director, speaks with event attendees

Bemidji State University was a hotbed of clean energy activity on August 31st as folks gathered for two consecutive events. First up was the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP) meeting, where over 40 attendees gathered to learn about clean energy projects in Bemidji. First they heard about the City of Bemidji’s $2.

Kicking the tires on electric vehicle charging stations in Bemidji, MN

As another Minnesota winter approaches, homeowners may be looking to replace an old, worn-out or inefficient heating system with a new high-efficiency model.

Most furnaces have a useful life of 15-20 years, while most boilers will last 20-30 years.

If your furnace looks like this it may be time for an upgrade

This past spring, thanks to support from the University of Minnesota’s Central Region Sustainable Development Partnership, Central CERT Coordinator Sarah Hayden Shaw had the opportunity to work with Connor Schaefer, a Masters student at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Community solar garden resources

What do people living and working in your community want in energy efficiency and sustainability? Communities can partner with Xcel Energy to identify and prioritize their energy needs. The utility provides tools and resources to develop a plan and then supports putting it into action.

It’s called Partners in Energy.

Xcel Energy Partners in Energy Program

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society’s Sustainable Home Tour (formerly known as the Solar Tour) has annually featured energy efficient, renewably powered, and all around sustainable homes around Minnesota for 25+ years. This year the Sustainable Home Tour will be on Saturday October 1, 2016 with hours from 10am to 3pm.

Sustainable Home Tour

The School of Music & Mayhem in West Lakeland, MN recently flipped the switch on a new solar PV system that covers 100% of their needs, becoming the first music school in the Midwest to be powered entirely by the sun! Rock on!

To commemorate the event, owner Joe Schertz and eight of his students wrote and recorded a Solar Suite song that is long— 8 minutes and 20 seconds long to be exact.

Joe Schertz of The School of Music and Mayhem plugs in to solar energy

If you are a nonprofit hoping to save money on your energy bills, and you are located in Xcel Energy and/or CenterPoint Energy service territory, you might want to schedule a visit with EnerChange.

We spoke with Michael T’Kach, Energy Manager with EnerChange, to learn more about how they are helping nonprofits save energy and money to better serve their missions.

EnergyChange helps nonprofits in Minnesota save energy

The 417-foot, 32-story First National Bank Building in downtown Saint Paul was constructed in 1931 and competed with New York City’s Empire State Building for construction materials. Madison Equities, the new owner of the building as of winter 2015, worked with Petros PACE Finance and the Saint Paul Port Authority to make $6.8 million in energy efficiency upgrades ($5M from Petros and $1.

First National Bank getting energy performance overhaul financed with PACE

Tesla is hoping that owners of Minnesota hotels and resorts will want to attract drivers of Tesla vehicles to their property by joining Tesla’s destination charging network. As part of their current program, properties will receive their first two Tesla wall connectors free of charge as long as they are installed in visible or convenient locations.

Tesla offering free chargers to Minnesota hotels and resorts

This article is being re-posted from the original at Midwest Energy News by Frank Jossi.

A new solar installation added to the parking garage roof of a Twin Cities apartment building the largest investment in renewable energy at a multi-family housing site in Minnesota. The 148 kilowatt (kW) project at CityVue Apartments in Eagan sits a top a parking lot next to the 11-story, 113 unit building.

Solar installation on CityVue Apartment roof

People are interested in reducing their impact and powering their homes, schools, businesses, and organizations, and local governments with wind and solar energy. One way they can do this is through the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, and companies sell them.

RECs can be confusing, so we thought we’d pose five key questions you should ask before buying.
 

1.

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)

EPA’s RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative (RE-Powering) encourages the revitalization and reuse of current and formerly contaminated lands, landfills, and mine sites through the development of renewable energy projects, when such development is aligned with a community’s vision for the site.

The sun rises over Hutchinson’s new solar PV project, the largest on a landfill in Minnesota, and the first ballast-mounted on a brownfield. Hutchinson’s wastewater treatment facility, the recipient of the array’s electricity, can be seen in the background

The mission of the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) is to “deliver research solutions to balance our economy, resources and environment for resilient communities.” On a recent Northeast CERT tour, participants were given a sneak peek at the innovative ways NRRI is fulfilling their mission in the realm of energy.

Touring NRRI's biomass research

The U.S. Military and National Guard have been leaders when it comes to adopting clean energy, and Camp Ripley in Little Falls is ahead of the pack in Minnesota.

Attendees learn about 10MW solar PV array under construction at Camp Ripley

Communities across Minnesota are looking to take action on clean energy projects, but sometimes knowing where to start, who to involve, and how to get from an idea to a completed project are steps that make the process seem daunting. Making those difficult steps easier, and getting through them faster, is what the Clean Energy Accelerator is all about.

Clean Energy Accelerator

Five Minnesota cities in the Twin Cities Metro have been selected as partners for the Local Government Project for Energy Planning (LoGoPEP), an initiative that is developing energy planning tools for local governments.

The five selected partner cities include Oakdale, Eden Prairie, Falcon Heights, Maplewood, and Saint Louis Park.

Solar panels on the roof of Falcon Heights City Hall

As part of our efforts to advance clean energy in the 11-county metro area, Metro CERT is supporting a community-wide effort in Chisago County to engage residents, businesses, cities, and institutions to stop wasting energy dollars and create more sustainable energy from renewable sources such as solar energy via the Chisago Area Clean Energy Hub.

Mural in Lindstrom, MN

Sign up to stay in the loop!