Moving Forward Together

What happens when you bring together 75 members of the CERTs community for a full day of conversation about community-based clean energy? We decided to find out.

On March 30, 2026, CERTs staff came together with staff from the four CERTs partner organizations and with CERTs steering committee members from around the state. The question we posed was this: How are we, collectively, building community-based clean energy in Minnesota over the next three years?

Our agenda was structured around the strategic pillars of how we do our work: helping people imagine, build community, and remove barriers to get projects done, and we trusted that the CERTs community would find useful and interesting things to talk about.

They did!

Together, we asked practical questions and brainstormed solutions together.

• How do we translate energy information into other languages when the technologies themselves are unfamiliar to the audience we’re trying to reach?
• When it comes to utility-scale renewable energy development, how can we help communities participate meaningfully in decision-making processes?
• If we have an electric snowblower in a tool “lending library” for our community, what’s a good system for making sure that everyone can get their snow cleared after storms?
• How might a cooperative purchasing model used for solar be adapted to other technologies, like heat pumps or insulation?
• What kinds of resources could help prepare renters for energy conversations with landlords?

We explored project funding opportunities, like Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), community “pay-it-forward” arrangements, and bringing small projects together for financing by the MN Climate Innovation Finance Authority (MnCIFA). We nerded out over acronym-laden technologies — like air source heat pumps (ASHPs), thermal energy networks (TENs), virtual power plants (VPPs), and battery energy storage systems (BESS) – and we got real about the importance of caring for ourselves and for each other in a world filled with uncertainty.

We came away from the day energized by the possibilities we see for community-based clean energy and by the resilient web of relationships that make those possibilities possible.

During 2026, we’re excited to keep clean energy moving forward. We’ll be developing a solar pilot project with Weatherization Assistance providers and other initiatives to reduce household energy burden. We’ll support Community Energy Ambassadors with an updated, more interactive learning experience and with regional cohorts where community members can learn together and implement projects in their communities. We’ll help Minnesotans find project funding — like the new Community Grants program funded by the State’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund — and we’ll continue to expand access through the MN Technical Assistance Collaborative.

In these and numerous other ways, CERTs will work creatively to help Minnesota’s communities implement the clean energy projects that are important to them. But we won’t be doing it alone. Thank you to all of you in the CERTs community for the work you do at every scale and in every corner of our state — it all adds up!

Melissa, Joel, and Diana
CERTs Co-Directors