Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/energy/page/10/)
On February 14, Republican Senators Bill Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria), Julie Rosen (Fairmont), Bill Weber (Luverne), Karin Housley (Stillwater) and John Pederson (St. Cloud) sent a Valentine’s Day card in the form of a resolution to TransCanada, the corporation building the Keystone XL pipeline to move oil extracted from Canadian tar sands to Steele City, Nebraska. Continue Reading
I want to acknowledge and say thanks to constituents in District 62B and others who are actively involved in protesting the construction of the Keystone pipeline system (“Keystone XL”), and especially those who attended the major rally for climate action today on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Continue Reading
Applied Energy Innovations is a Longfellow-based company that installs solar panels and other energy efficient technology in homes and businesses. Thanks to a My Broadsheet reader, we heard that they recently moved to a new space on Minnehaha. We thought it would be a good time to check in with AEI to learn more about solar power use in Minnesota, solar rebates and bulk buy programs, and where solar is headed in the future.MB: You’ve recently moved from 44th and Minnehaha to 40th and Minnehaha. Why the new location?AEI: We had outgrown our space on 44th. With the growth of our Bulk Buy program and other projects, we needed additional room for our sales team, project managers, and a larger space for meetings. Continue Reading
An “Earth Train” carrying 70 Minnesotans heading to Washington to ask President Obama and his administration to lead a clean energy transformation made an impromptu stop in Winona to meet local activists–and pick up another passenger. Continue Reading
Last Friday the Minneapolis City Council approved an ordinance amendment that will ask city buildings, public entity buildings, and larger commercial buildings to disclose energy and water consumption information to the public. The goal of this policy is to allow market forces to influence the efficiency of buildings in the city, concurrently producing jobs, economic growth, and reducing environmental impact. Those interested in leasing space within a commercial building or investing in large commercial properties can be more informed about their investment decisions while increasing the resale value of efficient properties, motivating building owners to invest in efficient building systems and design. Continue Reading
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to give agricultural landowners more rights under state eminent domain laws when their land is condemned for construction of a high-voltage electrical transmission line.
In his State of the State, Governor Dayton talked about the importance of a healthy environment, generating more sustainable energy, and attracting green energy jobs. It just so happens, the day Governor Dayton made that speech marked 100 days since Superstorm Sandy crashed into the East Coast, ruining thousands of homes and businesses and devastating the Mid-Atlantic region. As communities in New Jersey and New York are still struggling to recover, it’s time for our state and federal officials to redouble their efforts to tackle global warming. Continue Reading
Should Minneapolis explore the possibility of having a municipal energy system?”That would mean taking over the infrastructure of Xcel Energy in Minneapolis, and that’s the question we want on the ballot in 2013. We in the Minneapolis Energy Options campaign are just asking for an exploratory process to determine whether we could do it as well or better than Xcel and have a system that is consistently incorporating more clean, affordable, reliable, and local options to our energy system.Both Xcel and Centerpoint Energy contracts with the City of Minneapolis are up for renewal. Contract isn’t exactly the right word, but it’s basically a 20-year contract. Xcel’s comes up in 2014 and Centerpoint’s comes up the following year.What we have at this point is sort of like a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and it comes at a critical time when the city is also trying to come up with its own climate change action plan. The way the contract is written, the city gets approximately $15.5 million dollars every year from Xcel, but if we were in fact paying ourselves, that money would stay here. Continue Reading
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls) wants lawmakers and regulators to take a deeper look at environmental and regulatory issues related to oil pipelines that cross the state.
It used to be that affordable housing emphasized cheap construction above all else. Thanks to the problems this caused (unattractive buildings, costly maintenance, and high utility costs, among others) most developers do better now. One growing trend is that of green affordable housing, designed with an eye towards the long-term benefits. Continue Reading