Blog - Minneapolis Energy Options

Problem landlords are within the scope of the Clean Energy Partnership

At the Tuesday November 10th Energy Vision Advisory Committee (EVAC) meeting, an official from Centerpoint said that "Bad landlords are a real problem, but it is something that is somewhat outside the scope of the Clean Energy Partnership." He later added that it that falls more to the regulatory enforcement of the city or to the State.

Those words clearly are not partnership thinking, and they seem to miss a core point of the problem the Partnership was intended to solve - how to combine the regulatory powers of the city, the programmatic abilities of the community, and the networks and vision of Minneapolis communities to solve real-world energy problems facing people in Minneapolis.

EVALUATING THE SCOPE OF THE PARTNERSHIP

Let’s take a look at the big picture on what the Clean Energy Partnership is intended to achieve so we can push back against any proposed reductions in the Partnership’s scope.

The definition statement on the Clean Energy Partnership’s own webpage http://mplscleanenergypartnership.org/about/) explicitly says: "The Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is a new approach that partners the City of Minneapolis in a unique way with Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy, its electric and gas utilities, to help the City reach its Climate Action Plan and Energy Vision for 2040 goals."

If we look at the Energy Vision for 2040 (see https://cleanenergypartnership.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/mpls-energy-vision-9-3-13.pdf) it explicitly says:

"In 2040, Minneapolis’s energy system will provide reliable, affordable, local and clean energy services for Minneapolis homes, businesses, and institutions: sustaining the city’s economy and environment and contributing to a more socially just community."

Providing reliable, affordable and clean energy services and contributing to "a more socially just community" means, among other things, that all energy users have access to affordable energy that allows them to stay healthy in their homes. Since the Partnership is clearly in service of this vision, the Clean Energy Partnership must help tenants who live in poorly maintained housing secure affordable home energy and adequate building maintenance to ensure home comfort. So bad landlords are definitely in the scope, at least as it refers to justice on energy issues.

posted by | 1282PP
November 23, 2015

Community Solar is Economic Justice

Once there are numerous successful examples of community solar gardens for people to see, it will tell a new story of renewable energy as a pathway out of energy poverty and toward prosperity. Since Minnesota passed its Community Solar Garden law in May 2013, individuals and organizations finally have a clear path to reap the benefits of solar energy — no fuel cost, no moving parts, no emissions — without needing the space or capital to install solar on their own property. The power generated from Community Solar Gardens (CSGs) will go onto the electric grid, and CSG subscribers will be credited at a solar-friendly rate that results in savings of 5 percent or more on electric bills! Community Solar will be affordable to anyone who pays an electric bill because subscriptions can be offered through a pay-as-you-go process.

posted by | 1282PP
October 31, 2015

Minneapolis, Xcel launch ambitious LED streetlight proposals

Optimism and excitement abounds for LED Streetlights as item #3 on Community Power's online list of goals for the Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership to accomplish.

In her Budget Proposal released this August, Mayor Hodges allocated $400,000 “to accelerate Minneapolis’ conversation of City-owned streetlights to LED technology.” The up-front cost of installing LED streetlights is offset by their lower energy consumption and maintenance costs. The program will pay for itself in three and a half years as the planned retrofitting of 900 LED fixtures which will save about $113,400 per year over their lifetime.

Additional cities in Minnesota have already been switching to LED streetlights to save money such as St. Cloud.

posted by | 1282PP
October 18, 2015

Minneapolis Launches Commercial Building Energy Challenge

Goal #7 on Community Power's online checklist for the Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership has now come to fruition! The City of Minneapolis formally launched its Commercial Building Energy Challenge formally launched at a gathering last Wednesday in the City Hall Rotunda. The City now invites all tenants, managers and owners of large commercial buildings to join in the challenge of reducing their greenhouse gas footprint by 15 percent (from the 2014 level) by 2020.

Building Energy Performance Award Winners

posted by | 1282PP
October 16, 2015

Tragic Housefire Exposes Key Issues for Clean Energy Partnership to Address

Saving energy in homes and buildings is too often merely the cute little endeavor that everyone agrees with and smiles at for a second. Not responding to energy efficiency as an actual priority can be deadly, as we have seen in the lives of 3 young children aged 1, 6, and 7 from the same family being lost in a tragic house fire.

A household of renters in a poverty-stricken neighborhood in North Minneapolis made an ill-fated attempt to heat their living area because their landlord who lives miles away in Shakopee and hadn't gotten around to turning on the natural gas heat yet. Evidence points toward the fire starting near the stove while the oven was running while open.

posted by | 1282PP
October 04, 2015