News

O

On September 1st, 2011 Metro CERT held a reception for its 2010-2011 seed grant recipients. The eight projects that were funded in the region are now completed, and the event was a chance for recipients to celebrate and share stories about the projects. Attendees included seed grant recipients, steering committee, review committee and CERTs staff members.

Since 2006, the Minnesota Energy Challenge has helped over 27,000 people statewide learn about energy saving actions they can do in their own homes, and at the same time save gobs of money on their utility bills. We’re big fans of the work they have done, and they in turn have special tracking set up for each of our Regional CERTs.

Minnesota is home to several small wind turbine manufacturers, including Jacobs, Ventera, and Talk Inc. (remanufactured turbines). We recently reached out to these companies and heard back from Adam Suelflow, President of Talk Inc. in Sauk Centre, MN.

Breezy Point, MN: On Tuesday, August 30th, the Central Clean Energy Resource Team paired up with their partners leading the HUD Sustainable Communities Initiative in Central Minnesota to host a session on how to implement the Minnesota GreenStep Cities best practices.

Grand Rapids, MN: Folks from northern Minnesota joined CERTs for an inspiring event about how the biomass industry will play a key role in Minnesota’s energy future and its future economic development. The event took place at the Minnesota Historical Society Forest History Center in Grand Rapids on Monday, August 15th, 2011.

Thirty Minnesota cities are now participating in the GreenStep Cities program, and the League of Minnesota Cities recently recognized 26 of these cities at their annual conference in Rochester, MN (four more have signed up since). Launched in June 2010, GreenStep Cities is a voluntary challenge, recognition and assistance program that helps cities achieve their sustainability goals.

Braving temperatures approaching 100 degrees, iron workers bolted the Mahtomedi Area Green Initiative’s Zephyr Wind Turbine to the top of its 120-foot tower near the Mahtomedi High School playing fields yesterday afternoon, where it now perches, ready to transform those famous lake breezes into electricity and renewable energy educational experiences for their schools and their community.

June 21, 2011, Dassel, MN – Over the past few years, the use of solar power for commercial and residential applications has seen substantial growth in Minnesota. The interest was evident as over 40 people gathered to hear from industry experts and entrepreneurs at an event highlighting solar opportunities in Minnesota.

The East Side Neighborhood Development Company (ESNDC) is a non-profit community development corporation that works in community and human development. ESNDC has been working on Saint Paul’s East Side for 30 years, providing leadership and direction to effective community participation in the area’s development.

The state might be shut down, but restaurants, churches, cities, schools, and others—from Luverne to Duluth, East Grand Forks to Rochester, Minneapolis to Willmar, and everywhere in between—are busy benefiting from the energy and cost savings of conserving hot water in their kitchens and bathrooms.

Buffalo’s new energy audit program is aimed at helping small businesses discover how to use less energy. You are a small business owner, and the recession has you brainstorming for ideas to reduce costs and save money. You would like to find ways to reduce costs for electricity and climate control, but a myriad of offers, services and systems are being advertised.

On a trip to Washington DC over Memorial Weekend, I used their Capitol Bike Share program to tool around for the day. With 1,100 bikes in the fleet it is the biggest bike share program in the nation, and the experience was great.

May 26, 2011, Bemidji, MN – Did you know that Bemidji State University (BSU) has saved thousands of dollars through methods you can replicate in your own business, organization, municipality, or community? Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team (NW CERT) convened a ‘Meet ‘n Greet’ tour of BSU’s improvements May 26th.