Audrey Partridge: Closing a pivotal chapter as CEE's policy director
With sadness but great excitement and expectations for her future, CEE staff say farewell to powerhouse Policy Director Audrey Partridge. Since joining CEE in 2017, Audrey has been the catalyst behind legislation and regulatory frameworks that will shape not just CEE but the future of energy efficiency across Minnesota for many years to come. Her work has been instrumental in making energy efficiency more accessible, affordable, and beneficial to as many residents as possible.
CEE had a mission she could support, and be supported by in turn
Audrey had been waiting for a policy position to open at CEE for a while before the day finally arrived. Her work with Minnesota utilities had familiarized her with the organization and she knew she could bring about the kind of change she was seeking through CEE’s policy priorities. When she saw a job posting for the regulatory policy manager position, she knew she had to act quickly. The only problem was that Audrey was seven months pregnant. She was hesitant to attempt a professional leap while so much was changing in her personal life.
“I also thought, why would they hire me?” Audrey said. “It seemed like so much to ask, to see my potential for the organization and invest in the support my family and I needed.”
Still, Audrey took the leap and was promptly hired. It was a chaotic time, but one marked by joy and possibility. Audrey noted that from day one at CEE, she witnessed a work culture unlike any she had been exposed to before. Her colleagues were motivated and enthusiastic. She attributed this to the fact that CEE staff enjoy what they do — the work has immediate and tangible impacts on this state and the communities we serve and live in.
Big legislative wins and regulatory impact
During her time at CEE, Audrey has had a hand in more legislative and regulatory successes than would fit in a single post, but the work that has defined her time at CEE is that which brought the most direct benefits to everyday Minnesotans.
In order to bring energy efficiency services to more low-income households, Audrey developed and supported a bill in 2023 that expanded the definition of “low-income” to include a greater number of households struggling with high energy costs. The bill also introduced categorical eligibility, so that individuals who receive assistance through another means-tested program would not have to re-prove their income eligibility for low-income ECO services. This cut down an enormous amount of red tape and exemplified CEE’s practical, win-win approach to getting energy efficiency services to people who need them.
The largest and arguably the most far-reaching part of Audrey’s work while policy director at CEE has been the passage and implementation of the Natural Gas Innovation Act (NGIA). This monumental bill establishes a framework for natural gas utilities to invest in and advance innovative resources and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the gas system, including biogas, renewable natural gas, power-to-hydrogen, power-to-ammonia, carbon capture, energy efficiency, and electrification. This approach encourages investment in modifying technology and resources locally, sending less money outside the state as we support homegrown resources and workers to develop new energy sources and decarbonization tools.
She did not stop there. To extend the benefits of NGIA, Audrey worked diligently to support its regulatory counterpart, the natural gas resource planning process. Under her direction, CEE completed extensive research and conducted interviews with utilities and staff in the Pacific Northwest, one of the few places in the country with an existing and long-standing resource planning process. CEE modified these findings to develop the proper criteria for Minnesota’s energy needs. As tech matures and becomes cost-effective under the financial and logistical support of NGIA, it will be fed directly to resource planning to maximize its efficacy. The resource planning process also has built-in requirements for engaging diverse communities and strives to be as transparent as possible, inviting the public to weigh in at each step.
A policy approach rooted in direct experience and impact
When asked what makes CEE’s policy work so effective, Audrey surprisingly pointed outside her former department. “The policies we advocate are responsive to and informed by the work that the rest of CEE is doing,” Audrey said. From the Home Energy Squad’s in-the-field interactions with homeowners, to the research team’s findings on the cutting edge of building science principles, to guidance from the lending department on the types of projects people are undertaking, to reports from our communities team on the hurdles that building owners and renters are facing to equip their spaces, to so much more, there is nothing abstract about CEE’s policy work. Housing data, public sentiment, relationships with utility partners, contractor trainings, community priorities — they all factored into Audrey’s work to generate real and lasting results.
Audrey highlighted CEE’s relatively recent workforce development programming as exemplary of the direct action that makes the organization so invaluable. In the last few years, CEE identified a concerning gap in the energy efficiency market. To meet the advanced weatherization, electrification, and decarbonization goals that the State aimed for, the energy efficiency workforce — particularly in the residential sector — would need to be scaled, and fast. At the same time, CEE’s research indicated that certain communities and demographics were woefully underrepresented in the field.
To address both issues, CEE founded its career training services with initial funding support from Xcel Energy. CEE’s paid training cohorts gain skills in residential building science and are introduced to fast-growing clean energy jobs in home energy efficiency services. The programs prioritize training Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latino, people of color, and women from communities across the Twin Cities that have been underrepresented in the industry.
Looking back at her time at CEE, Audrey said that her proudest moment was not at the legislature, but as an audience member at a graduation for one of these career training cohorts. Witnessing the cohort’s pride and excitement about their newfound career skills and opportunities and the close relationships between CEE’s training staff and the students brought home the tangible impact CEE can have. “Working in policy can look very different in other organizations where the work is not tied to any direct action,” Audrey said. “At CEE, I was able to see the effects in everything I did.”
An energetic future at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
Governor Walz has appointed Audrey as the newest Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioner. She will be working on many of the same efforts, like advancing gas resource planning and the manifold legislative and regulatory issues she has supported throughout her career, but from a new vantage point, one that offers her a more expansive approach to guiding energy use across the state.
While bittersweet, CEE staff are thrilled for this next phase of Audrey’s already storied career. Her understanding of effective policy is unmatched, and we look forward to seeing her thrive at the PUC.