In early April 2025 the City of Crookston successfully secured funding to conduct a feasibility study for its innovative geothermal project, a potential new source of substantial clean heat for the city.
This study will explore the potential to capture excess waste heat from the American Crystal Sugar plant and a nearby foundry, piping it into the city to heat homes and businesses throughout Crookston. It’s exactly the kind of climate solution that Minnesota needs as the state works toward its decarbonization targets.
It’s also a case study in how community-driven climate action and smart policy can create a better future.
For years, Crookston has recognized the potential of this geothermal opportunity but faced a common challenge: securing early-stage funding to determine project viability. This obstacle isn’t unique to Crookston — communities across Minnesota struggle to finance the critical preliminary studies that determine whether innovative climate projects are viable.
Recognizing this systemic barrier, Empower Crookston, the city’s group of organizations (including Fresh Energy!) and community leaders collaborating to secure funding for energy projects, decided to advocate for policy solutions at the Minnesota Capitol. These efforts bore fruit during the 2024 legislative session with the establishment of a $1.2 million geothermal planning grants program specifically designed to fund these crucial feasibility studies. The program’s overwhelming response, with applications in the fall of 2024 requesting double the grant’s available funding, demonstrates the significant untapped demand for clean heating alternatives throughout Minnesota communities.
With this newly secured funding, Crookston can now move forward with evaluating the technical and economic viability of their geothermal system. This represents not just a win for Crookston, but validation of a community-driven approach to climate policy that addresses real barriers to implementation.
Empower Crookston also received a separate $50,000 Climate Action Grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on April 9, 2025. This funding will underwrite a half-time position with the city to work on clean energy matters in Crookston.
As we’ve shared before through our work with Empower Crookston, this community is at the forefront of Minnesota’s energy transition. From door-knocking campaigns with the University of Minnesota-Crookston men’s basketball team to weekly planning meetings where neighbors collaborate on grant applications, Crookston exemplifies how rural communities can lead on climate solutions while strengthening their local economy.
Fresh Energy is proud to have partnered with Empower Crookston in advocating for these geothermal planning grantsb and we’re thrilled to be advocating again at the Capitol during the 2025 legislative session to add even more funds to this grant program to make this opportunity available to more Minnesotan communities.
Fresh Energy is looking forward to the results of Crookston’s feasibility study, which represents a crucial step toward making this innovative waste heat recovery system a reality, and we’re also excited to collaborate with Empower Crookston in its other climate action projects. Stay tuned for more soon!
