Blog
Late summer savings
Published August 11, 2021 Staying in that sweet spot where comfort meets energy savings is an art, and it’s been a hot summer so far. Cooling down is a huge part of your energy bill during the year and, given the heat, we thought we’d give you some tools to lower both your energy bill…
Commission exempts low-income Minnesotans from natural gas price spike surcharges
Published August 11, 2021 Over President’s Day Weekend 2021, four of Minnesota’s natural gas utilities (CenterPoint, Xcel, MERC, and Great Plains) collectively incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in extraordinary costs providing natural gas to their Minnesota customers. Normally, extraordinary costs (those that exceed what utilities had budgeted for when setting rates) are passed through…
Minnesota Power to transition to time-of-day rates
Published August 3, 2021 After several years of study and analysis, Minnesota Power has received approval to transition residential customers to a new electric rate called a time-of-day (TOD) rate. The cost per kWh to customers would vary based on the time of day the energy is consumed. This transition will not happen immediately but instead…
Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are seeking Seed Grant proposals
Published July 27, 2021 As a member of the Metro CERTs Steering Committee, I am excited to share that CERTs has launched their calls for 2021 grant proposals. CERTs will be accepting applications across the state, organized into seven regions. There is plenty of time to get your applications in; the due date is October…
Xcel’s Flex Pricing Pilot encourages shifting energy use to reduce peak demand
Published July 7, 2021 Xcel Energy began its Flex Pricing Pilot program in November 2020. Participants in the program are charged different electricity rates based on the time of day they use energy. The program is underway in areas around south Minneapolis and Eden Prairie until November 2022. Summer, when demand for electricity is greatest,…