News

The Clean Energy Resource Teams are delighted to welcome Shaylyn Bernhardt as our new Communications and Engagement Manager! 

Shaylyn will work to advance CERTs’ clean energy mission through timely and relevant storytelling, engagement, and education, providing strategic direction to CERTs’ communications work.

The Twin Cities Grow Solar initiative (a past Metro CERT seed grant) is building on their 2018 and 2019 successes by hosting additional Solar Power Hours!

They will share information about solar energy, their program, and how to access solar via volume purchasing to save money, for homeowners and businesses wanting to add solar to their rooftops.  After the session, you can schedule a free, no-obligation site assessment/cost estimate for a solar array on your home. 

If Minnesota’s utility service areas were a jigsaw puzzle, it would take a long time to complete!

This was one of the thoughts that led to the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL), the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTS), and the Center for Urban and Rural Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota to co-create the Totally Awesome Map for Renewable Energy Collaboration. 

In a year of transitions and change, it is with bittersweet news that we bid a fond farewell to CERTs Communications Director Dan Thiede this week, who will be moving into a new communications position with the McKnight Foundation. Lissa Pawlisch and Joel Haskard penned a send-off that outlines his truly incredible contributions to CERTs and the work advancing clean energy across the state. Dan, we are grateful to you for all you have done to make CERTs what we are. Cheers to you on your next career adventure!

Wondering what strategies were particularly effective for CERTs Seed Grant recipients in the past? Learn about the top ten things that have come from the project reflections of recent grantees. Now we can all benefit from them! Read on to learn more, then go apply for support for your own community-based clean energy effort, due October 8th, 2021.

Know someone looking to kick off their green career by increasing energy efficiency and solar energy across Minnesota? There are incredible opportunities to make an impact through the Home Energy Corps with AmeriCorps! Six organizations across the state are hiring 1-3 members to do this important work starting in September. Applications due August 25, 2021.

The project aims to understand the implementation rates of commercial energy efficiency utility programs among Latinx-owned businesses in Minnesota, identify and document participation barriers, and assess the potential to improve implementation rates throughout these communities while also working with business owners to increase understanding of existing program offerings and opportunities. | El proyecto tiene como objetivo comprender las tasas de implementación de los programas de servicios públicos de eficiencia energética comercial entre los negocios de propiedad latina en Minnesota, identificar y documentar las barreras de participación y evaluar el potencial para mejorar las tasas de implementación en estas comunidades, al mismo tiempo que se trabaja con los propietarios de negocios para aumentar la comprensión de las ofertas y oportunidades del programa.

In these challenging times, Minnesotans may find themselves having to choose between paying their energy bill and other necessities — food, medicine and healthcare. Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program offers eligible residents help to pay their energy bills so they do not have to choose between life’s necessities. Since COVID-19, there have been some big changes in the Energy Assistance Program.

Minnesota GreenCorps is an environmentally focused AmeriCorps program coordinated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The program places members with organizations throughout the state to spend a year of service addressing critical environmental issues while gaining experience and learning valuable job skills. MPCA is currently accepting applications, due March 16, from organizations interested in hosting a Minnesota GreenCorps member for the 2021-2022 program year.

After learning about solar energy from another local business, Bill Hanisch, owner of Red Wing's popular Hanisch Bakery, decided to go solar himself. "I looked at all the numbers and said, I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to do this. The payback is very quick," Bill shared. "We're in our second year with solar now and it's going great. It's cool to look down at your roof and see it covered in solar panels. Good feeling to have—to know you're doing something right." Learn how he did it and the tools you can use to cook up solar and energy efficiency projects!

The Office of Enterprise Sustainability is a small office within the State’s Department of Administration with the mission to assist state agencies in meeting sustainability goals across energy, water, solid waste, procurement, fleet, and greenhouse gas reductions—driving toward the state’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2025. They now have a master contract for solar energy procurement that can speed the process for local governments and schools interested in going solar. We talked to Marcus Grubbs with the State of Minnesota Office of Enterprise Sustainability to learn more.

Metro CERT is excited to welcome three new members to our Steering Committee as we kick off 2021: Marisa Bayer, Gardyartu M. Freeman, and Bill Sierks. We asked them to introduce themselves, talk a bit about their background and interest in clean energy, and let us know what drew them to help guide our work. Welcome!

As Energy Awareness Month comes to a close, celebrate with these clean energy-themed pumpkin stencils! It’s a fun way to energize your neighborhood and teach your kids about energy efficiency and renewable energy. While you’re at it, you can also avoid cold weather terrors like phantom power and see tips for bundling up your house before winter hits.

CJ Denney, a sophomore studying biology and environmental studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, will be serving Minnesota communities as an intern with Metro CERT for the 2020-2021 academic year. "I’m excited to learn more about clean energy initiatives and how we can implement them in our very own communities."

On September 22, 2020, businesses in the Fergus Falls area and the organizations serving them were invited to learn about opportunities for saving money on energy bills, next steps to make projects happen, and funding for energy-saving upgrades. We heard speakers from Fergus Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, Otter Tail Power Company, and the Clean Energy Resource Teams. View a recap, webinar, and slides to see what you missed!

Rebecca Heisel joined the Great Plains Institute (GPI) electric vehicle crew in September as a Minnesota GreenCorps Member for an 11-month service term. In this position, Rebecca will provide one on one support and technical assistance to communities to help them with their initiatives related to electric vehicle adoption.

A handful of folks from Northwest Minnesota recently welcomed Ed Lohrenz of GEOptimize to share his insights on siting ground source heat pump or geoexchange systems. Ed focused on the most important elements to consider in system design and current industry trends. Shannon Stassen, Northwest CERT Coordinator, connected with Ed at the suggestion of our colleagues at Otter Tail Power Company who have worked with Ed on several projects.

Electric vehicle (EV) drivers want to travel longer distances without worrying about where they can recharge. Over the next few years, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will increase the state’s charging network by more than 2,500 miles using funds from the VW settlement to install 38 fast-charging stations in Greater Minnesota to help support the state’s growing EV market.

It seems likely that social distancing, in one form or another, is likely to be with us for some time. Given that inescapable fact, what are some of the tools and practices that are available to help ensure that Minnesota residents are able to continue to work, access healthcare, and participate in local governance? Might these tools and practices offer quality of life and environmental benefits that extend beyond confronting the current challenge of COVID-19? CERTs and the Minnesota GreenStep Program came together to examine these questions in a series of four webinars on telework, telehealth, and community engagement.

Metro CERT is excited to welcome four new members to its Steering Committee! We were able to have one in-person meeting with our newest members before the COVID-19 emergency got underway. As we welcome these new members, we asked them to introduce themselves, share how their lives have changed, and what they’re doing to adjust during this unprecedented time. Read on to learn about their diverse backgrounds, what drew them to clean energy and CERTs specifically, and a little-known fact about each of them. 
 

When the Clean Energy Resource Teams  and Great Plains Institute were wrapping up the Cities Charging Ahead! peer cohort in the summer of 2019—which produced several resources and tools to guide communities on their EV readiness journey—the big question was, “what next?” So when the opportunity came to pivot and support municipal utilities to become EV ready in order to further accelerate deployment of EVs across Minnesota, it seemed like the natural next step. Introducing: Powering Ahead with Vehicle Electrification (PAVE), which launched in mid-March.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) and our partner, the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) at University of Minnesota Extension, are delighted to welcome Marie Donahue to our team as our new Sustainability Storyteller. Marie will develop stories that highlight the champions and projects inspiring sustainability and clean energy action across Minnesota, and support a variety of RSDP and CERTs communications efforts.

Every year the Environmental Initiative Awards celebrate the people and projects working in partnership at the nexus of a healthy environment, a prosperous economy, and an equitable society. The 2020 recipients were announced today, and the Clean Energy Resource Teams and our many partners are honored to receive both of the awards in the Energy and Climate category for the Solar Possible and Cities Charging Ahead! efforts!

Is your local government or organization curious about how to increase your sustainable spend using state contracts? The State of Minnesota has new resources for you to check out! Guidance has been designed to help cities, counties, townships, and nonprofits (among others) increase the sustainability of their purchases and work toward sustainable spending goals.

We have never experienced a situation like this. Since CERTs began in 2003 we have always been about forging relationships as an essential pathway to advancing community-based clean energy. It would be naive of us not to recognize that in many ways, this forging relationships part is looking a little more complicated this week. I am at my kitchen counter writing this, and I imagine many of you will be reading this from home. I say all of this because we recognize that perhaps working on a clean energy project is simply not at the top of your to-do list right now, and we get it. The most important thing right now is to take care of yourself, your families, loved ones, friends, and neighbors following guidance from the CDC. And, with this awareness front and center, we want you to know we're still here to help you when the time is right.