News

Based on feedback gathered confidentially from employees, Center for Energy and Environment has been named a 2025 USA TODAY Top Workplace. In 2024, CEE was also named a Top 200 Workplace in Minnesota by Star Tribune, and was recognized nationally as an employer of choice among participating U.S. nonprofits and for its attention to employee well-being. 

Sponsored by the Highland and Macalester-Groveland district councils, this year’s Home Improvement Workshop Day offers a dozen workshops on everything from home maintenance and remodeling to solar energy and saving money on utility bills. 

CEE's outreach specialist Gerardo Roca will be on stage to explain how residents can make their homes increasingly energy efficient, including changes that can be completed quickly at little cost, slightly more expensive upgrades, and longer-term investments.

In this news story, we cover the story of Kathy Palmer, a Minneapolis homeowners who recently supplemented her gas system with a heat pump. The process is made affordable thanks to rebate program form the state. A CEE spokesperson shared some info that Minnesota utilities will make heat-pump rebate data publicly available starting in April 2025.

The board of directors of Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) recently welcomed new member Pepe Wonosikou. CEE’s current strategic plan prioritizes equitable decarbonization and better access to promising efficiency technologies, as well as organizational sustainability and strategic growth, all positioned to benefit from Wonosikou’s strengths in organizational planning and leadership.  

CEE's policy lead Audrey Partridge weighed in recently with Star Tribune about the rapid rise of giant data centers in MN and key considerations for meeting their massive power needs. Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are among the many companies starting to eye various sites throughout Minnesota for their data centers.

CEE's Sarah Northrup spoke with Mike Miller of the Spark'n Conversations podcast about CEE's career training program and how we support both trainees and contractors in reaching their goals. Sarah and Mike discussed post-training job placement, trainee success stories, and how contractors can get involved in CEE's work as guest speakers, trainers, preferred contractors, and more.

Last week, COPAL and Electrify Everything MN hosted a dynamic, hands-on workshop to help community members take control of their energy future by transitioning to clean electric energy in their homes. Participants explored various ways to replace fossil fuel-based appliances with clean electric alternatives, developing practical, personalized plans for achieving their home energy goals on a realistic timeline.

This article by RMI highlights its Electrify Cohort program that aims to develop and launch programs to help their community members electrify their homes, focusing on heat pumps. CEE's Community Program Manager Matthew Douglas-May explains that joining the the RMI cohort helps them fill out gaps in services around electrification in their communities.

CEE stands out as a bright star, with competitive interest rates and no dealer fees, in this article that underscores the critical need for homeowners to choose solar project lenders wisely.

This article by Contracting Business describes the new partnership of U.S. Department of Energy and heat pump manufacturers to improve the energy efficiency and performance of RTUs in cold weather in a program called the Commercial Building Heat Pump Accelerator Challenge. CEE has been chosen as one of the partner members in the program.