Blog

The Finnish Minister of Trade and Development and Finnish Ambassador will visit Minnesota in October and are planning to meet with Governor Walz and other businesses and trade representatives.

Hello! My name is Brooke McKelvey and I am the Marketing and Communications Intern for Clean Energy Economy Minnesota.

We spoke with Nina Axelson, Founder of Grid Catalyst, about her history with Minnesota clean energy, how the idea for Grid Catalyst came about and the need to demonstrate emerging technology for northern climates.

Back in the 1990’s all of the solar power installed in Minnesota was known as “off-grid solar,” a thing only interesting to people who owned remote cabins. By necessity, these power systems were self-contained, having energy storage that was optimized for the most run-time that the customer could afford.

Last year’s job losses were a dramatic change of pace for the usually fast-growing industry, with more than 11,500 Minnesota clean energy workers having filed for unemployment at one point. Despite the setbacks, clean energy jobs rebounded quicker than the overall Minnesota workforce and are expected to continue growing this year and next.

“The business community needs a voice. You need to be involved more because there are voices bigger than yours and I have to jump over those rocks every day. This is serious. We can be clean energy nice but opponents make this path a lot harder. All we need to do is send the truthful message and be a neutralizer to those who want to stop this movement.”

The Clean Energy Economy MN team has been busy these past six months as we completely redesigned our website! The team has also spent time redefining our brand voice and values, updating our colors and branding and reworking our entire website.

When people think about the clean energy economy, what comes to mind? Solar photovoltaic and wind energy are likely at the top of the list. Perhaps other renewable sources of energy like solar heating, ground-source heating and cooling, geothermal power, or hydroelectric. Or non-renewable low carbon technologies like fossil energy with carbon capture or nuclear power. While these are all important, biomass and the bioeconomy are also key contributors to a clean energy economy.

Bali Kumar, COO of PACE Loan Group, tells us about his history with management consulting, law and mission-driven work that led him to PACE financing and the work he does today.