(Midwest Energy News, November 2, 2011)—In May, we surveyed a handful of electric utilities to ask how complying with Minnesota’s renewable portfolio standard was affecting their costs and rates. For the most part, what we heard was that these utilities would be adding wind power capacity regardless of Minnesota’s renewable mandate because it’s economical and [...]
(Finance & Commerce, October 24, 2011)—On their way to becoming solar-electric panels, more than half of the world’s silicon solar cells produced today reportedly pass through a furnace made by a century-old Lakeville manufacturer. What’s more, the company only started supplying the solar industry four years ago. Despatch Industries now owns more than 60 percent [...]
(Finance & Commerce, October 24, 2011)—Silicon Energy became Minnesota’s second solar-electric panel manufacturer when it started shipping rooftop units from its Iron Range factory in mid-September. It joins Bloomington-based TenKsolar, which began selling its commercial systems in 2010. The companies are getting a boost from a made-in-Minnesota solar rebate program for Xcel Energy customers. And [...]
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(Midwest Energy News, September 13, 2011)—Contractors Tadd Johnson and Adam Hegland had just finished building a four-unit townhome in Red Wing and were eagerly awaiting the results of a blower door test. “We did all the work ourselves and thought we would just perform through the charts,” says Johnson. Instead, disappointment. The results were fine, [...]
Make no mistake: Best Buy likes to see customers lining up for that next new, must-have gadget. The consumer electronics retailer is in the business of helping people upgrade their technology, whether it’s a mobile phone or a big-screen television. For every new product, though, there’s often an old one made obsolete: last year’s iPhone, [...]
I spent a few months this spring looking into the potential risks and opportunities for Minnesota companies as development, pollution, population growth and climate conspire to strain our planet’s fresh water supply. The risk may seem distant here in the land of 10,000 lakes, but in an age when global supply chains span the globe, [...]
June 28, 2011, Midwest Energy News — Two fronts have collided before Minnesota utility regulators, and now, observers on both sides are waiting to see which way the wind will blow in what’s been the state’s highest-profile and hardest-fought battle over wind turbine placement. The proposed $179 million, 78-megawatt Goodhue Wind project would consist of [...]
