Energy Futures: Conversations on Where We’re Headed

Recently, Statewide Director of the Clean Energy Resource Teams Lissa Pawlisch and co-director Joel Haskard sat down virtually for a conversation with CERTs sustainability storyteller Marie Donahue. During the interview, Pawlisch and Haskard speak about CERTs ongoing seed grant program and how this unique opportunity helps launch community-led clean energy projects across the state. The podcast episode also features project highlights from CERT regional coordinators and other staff.

How will we site and build out the sheer amount of solar and wind energy needed to reach ambitious renewable energy targets while preserving farmland, expanding habitat, and maintaining the sense of place that communities have come to appreciate? That was the focus of the conversation among leading renewable energy planners and practitioners during this Energy Futures event from CERTs. Join Nathan Cummins with The Nature Conservancy, Brian Ross with Great Plains Institute, and Sarah Mills with University of Michigan as they dig into the research, discuss the issues, and surface best practices. Learn more.

In June 2021, Gabe Chan, Assistant Professor and lead of the Chan Lab at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs in the Twin Cities, sat down virtually for a conversation with CERTs sustainability storyteller Marie Donahue. During the interview, Chan speaks about his career path and early interests in climate change and clean energy, his approach to engaged scholarship on energy technology and policy, and current projects working to explore utility business models, community solar programs, and energy justice and equity. Learn more.

In April 2021, Rachel Wagner of through design LLC, based in Duluth, Minnesota, sat down virtually for a conversation with CERTs northeast regional coordinator Colby Abazs and sustainability storyteller Marie Donahue. Through design is a firm specializing in to-scale consulting, providing ecologically and socially conscious solutions on projects that range in scope from single family residences to comprehensive public policy, in what Wagner calls “responsible design.”

During the interview, Wagner speaks about her decades of experience working in private sector architecture and building design and the pivot she took to pursue bolder grassroots and mission-driven work. She shares about recent projects working to engage local youth and community members in green building design and solar energy through a workshop and video series supported by CERTs Seed Grants, as well as a new, collaborative Green New Deal Housing effort that seeks to address climate, social and economic inequities through energy efficient, affordable housing.

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It’s clear that energy storage is necessary to reach our clean energy goals, but the amount, technologies, and applications we need are still emerging. We continued our CERTs Energy Futures events in 2021 in collaboration with the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment to talk about community-scale deployment of energy storage technologies, specific applications, workforce development, and growing the market. Lissa Pawlisch at CERTs spoke with Jessica Hellmann, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment; Jamez Staples, CEO of Renewable Energy Partners; and Ralph Jacobson, Chief Justice Equity Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Impact Power Solutions. Learn more

Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, general manager of Cooperative Energy Futures, sat down virtually for a conversation with Marie Donahue, Sustainability Storyteller with CERTs. Cooperative Energy Futures is a solar energy developer and cooperative based in Minneapolis that works across Minnesota. During the interview, DenHerder-Thomas talks about his journey working on climate and clean energy issues, and Cooperative Energy Futures' vision and approach to community-scale solar energy. He gives an overview of Minnesota’s leading community solar garden program and how his organization is working with residents and communities to address energy burden and strengthen participation in the energy system. Learn more.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) connect individuals and communities in Minnesota to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects. CERTs is a partnership of University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Great Plains Institute, Southwest Regional Development Commission, and Minnesota Department of Commerce.

It’s clear that Energy Storage is necessary to reach our clean energy goals, but the amount, technologies, and applications we need are still emerging. We kicked off our Energy Futures events in 2021 in collaboration with our colleagues at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment to talk about energy storage. The first event in this two-part series focused on the big picture of energy storage, what that expansive term can include, and what the future of energy storage may look like here in Minnesota and the Midwest.

Speakers: Lissa Pawlisch was joined by moderator Akisha Everett, Energy Storage Project Coordinator with University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. They spoke to Ellen Anderson, Climate Program Director at Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy; Marc Perez, Senior Researcher at Clean Power Research; and Todd Olinsky-Paul, Senior Project Director for Clean Energy Group.

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The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) connect individuals and communities in Minnesota to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects. CERTs is a partnership of University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Great Plains Institute, Southwest Regional Development Commission, and Minnesota Department of Commerce.

Nina Axelson, VP of Sustainability and Outreach at Ever-Green Energy, sat down virtually for a conversation with Marie Donahue. Ever-Green Energy is both a utility system operator and energy planning and design firm, based in Saint  Paul. Axelson talks about her path to Ever-Green and how she and the company navigated the challenges in 2020. She highlights what inspires her about recent projects, including the Towerside development with aquifer thermal energy storage in Minneapolis, their Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality program working with colleges and universities to advance their decarbonization goals, and Ever-Green’s inaugural Impact Report. Read more.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) connect individuals and communities in Minnesota to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects. CERTs is a partnership of University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Great Plains Institute, Southwest Regional Development Commission, and Minnesota Department of Commerce.

Carmen Carruthers, Outreach Director at the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota (CUB), sat down virtually for a conversation with Marie Donahue at CERTs. Carruthers shares how CUB uses advocacy and outreach to advance affordable and reliable utility service and clean energy for households and small businesses across Minnesota. The discussion digs deeper into how Carruthers and her team have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they are connecting consumers struggling to pay their utility bills with support and resources. Read more.

The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) connect individuals and communities in Minnesota to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects. CERTs is a partnership of University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Great Plains Institute, Southwest Regional Development Commission, and Minnesota Department of Commerce.