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The adoption of clean energy in Minnesota boosts the economy, creates jobs, and helps create a more sustainable future for the state. To assist with the clean energy transition, lawmakers have enacted legislation to assist this emerging industry. As these industries mature, there are several policies currently in play at the Capitol that would be beneficial to businesses as clean energy markets adapt to lower electricity prices and new issues arise.  Today, we are breaking down a brief history of Minnesota’s policy leadership, the current state of clean energy legislation, and how new proposals will help transition Minnesota to a decarbonized, clean energy economy. 

With new reports every day about COVID-19 job losses and their impact on the world and the clean energy industry, it can be hard to keep track! We are breaking down the top things to keep in mind about clean energy jobs in Minnesota from 2019 data. We are also sharing how those numbers have changed since the start of the pandemic, and how the past strength of the industry can be a key to Minnesota’s economic recovery. 

The legislature ended its Special Session the morning of Saturday, June 20 with little progress on major bills. The Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act failed to pass despite strong bipartisan support in both chambers, and from leadership in the Energy and Utilities Committee in the Senate. There was no deal made on a bonding bill. If passed, a bonding bill could create $350 million in energy projects at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities alone. 

A small group of Wayzata senior high school students didn’t let the pandemic keep them from trying to persuade the Wayzata School Board to invest in solar.

The following webinar recap is based on the 2020 Legislative Session Recap Webinar hosted by CEEM on May 27, 2020 at 1pm CDT. The slides are available for review, but there are no recordings of the event. There were 60 attendees on the webinar to hear speakers Benjamin Stafford, CEEM’s Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Senator Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, and Steve Kelley, the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Commissioner. CEEM’s Executive Director, Gregg Mast, also joined the group to provide a welcome and updates on CEEM’s next steps.

In what will go down in history as one of the most tumultuous times in our state’s economic history, the 2020 legislative session started and ended in very different places. COVID-19 changed conversations about many different aspects of daily life, including work at the Capitol. The state of Minnesota started the 2020 legislative session with over a $1 billion surplus, but recent forecast numbers have shown the immediate impact of job losses and business closures have resulted in a $2.4 billion deficit. 

May 18 marks the final day of the 2020 Legislative Session. We continue to speak with state legislators as they prioritize their work.  Leaders have outlined three priorities for the remainder of session: COVID-19 response, state bonding, and matters where both parties have strong agreement on bills already moving at the Capitol.

While many of us are immersed in all things covid-19, there are good news stories sprinkled in every day too. We rounded up a collection of clean energy-related stories to inform, delight and inspire. 

The Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) Act was heard in energy committees in both the Senate and House on Thursday, April 23. We are happy to report that the bill was passed out of these committees. The bill had strong support, and the bill authors called out the support of clean energy groups.

I am Tiffanie Connelly and am joining the CEEM team as the Social Media and Marketing Specialist.

New information being released in the 2020 Minnesota Energy Factsheet about Minnesota’s clean energy transition could help inform decision-making about the state’s economic recovery. The Factsheet was put together with our partners at the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and BloombergNEF.

The Minnesota Legislature narrowed its focus and priorities for the remainder of session in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers recessed on March 17 and will not meet again until April 14, with the exception to reconvene for COVID-related actions.

While there is much uncertainty at this time due to the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation, there are also a large number of informational resources and assistance programs being put forward. We will be using this page to share information relevant to our business members and colleagues. Please reach out to our team if we can be of further assistance or if you have suggestions on resources we should add to this page.

Since March is Women’s History Month, Clean Energy Economy MN is taking the opportunity to highlight some of the talented women working in our industry. We asked several women what they most enjoy about their work in clean energy, check out their responses.

Some 200 clean energy supporters filled the Minnesota Capitol this week for Clean Energy Business Day on March 4.

The first weeks of March will be a busy time for clean energy discussions in St. Paul. March marks the beginning of legislative deadlines. Every year the leadership in the House and Senate establish deadlines for committee action on bills. Committee deadlines winnow the list of topics to be dealt with in a given legislative year. Here are three trends to watch as we head toward deadlines.

The 2020 legislative session is officially underway! The early weeks continue to be a busy time for clean energy discussions in St. Paul. Here are three trends to watch as we head toward the end of February.

The Center for Energy and Environment is working with partner organizations like Clean Energy Economy Minnesota and others on two significant clean energy initiatives, that together offer the opportunity for the most significant bipartisan action on clean energy since the Next Generation Energy Act in 2007.  Those two initiatives are Clean Energy First and Energy Conservation and Optimization. Both initiatives are the result of extensive stakeholder negotiation, and Governor Walz has proposed both as clean energy initiatives for the 2020 session.

While lithium-ion batteries get much of the attention when it comes to talk about energy storage, a  recent forum by Clean Energy Economy MN on the topic, shed light on other alternatives. In this piece we touch on some of the different reasons why energy storage can be a smart solution for building owners, and why policy plays a big part in the conversation. 

Clean energy is everyone’s party, hear how Minnesotans' attitudes on climate and clean energy are shifting. We'll tell you how climate change is showing up in new and different ways at the legislature plus why we think energy efficiency is having a moment this year!