On March 16, 2017, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved Otter Tail Power Company’s new 15-year Resource Plan, affirming that additional clean energy investments are a good bet for the utility’s customers.
energy efficiency
High-performance buildings are a big opportunity for Minnesota
Fresh Energy’s Michael Noble and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity’s Sue Haigh make the case that highly efficient buildings are beneficial to Minnesota homeowners of all income levels.
How marginal cost pricing impacts rates
Rate design has become a primary focus of utility policy due to its impact on how customers use and pay for the energy they receive. Get the details.
Avoided cost utilized in solar pricing after decades of impacting conservation
This summer, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to adopt a value of solar (VOS) tariff. This methodology, in contrast with net metering for solar generation, has a 25-year bill credit schedule rather than simply mirroring the retail rate as it fluctuates over time. While factoring in avoided cost may be a new idea for solar, factoring in the value of avoided cost has been used to analyze energy efficiency programs for over 40 years.
How the historic decision to transform Xcel Energy’s electricity was made
Working directly with Xcel and with our “Clean Energy Organizations”, or CEO, partnership, Fresh Energy used for the first time in Minnesota the same utility inputs and modeling Xcel uses. We analyzed options for closing the Sherco 1 and 2 coal plants and replacing them with vast amounts of cost-effective energy efficiency, wind, and solar power. Our independent analysis demonstrated that Xcel’s cheapest course of action—and the lowest in carbon—was the retirement and replacement of these two units, which are the biggest sources of global warming pollution in the Upper Midwest. Xcel agreed with our analysis, and completely revised its 15-year plan to reflect those economic opportunities. Fresh Energy applauds the unanimous Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decision to modify and approve Xcel’s 15-year Resource Plan as the affordable, reliable, and clean path forward for Minnesota customers.
Building energy footprints trending down
This week Minnesota Public Radio released a report describing how real estate company Madison Equities is overhauling three of their large downtown St. Paul buildings. The most visible upgrade will be the replacing the neon lighting on the iconic First National Bank Building with LED lighting. This is part of a comprehensive $12.5 million retrofit project resulting in a 40 percent reduction in energy use between the three properties. And while the end result of this project will mean big savings, it actually started with a small decision – to benchmark how much energy the buildings were using in the first place.