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Energy & Resources

• Ten ways to save money on your energy bill this winter
  Energy auditor Mike Childs takes a look at a 1916 St. Paul bungalow and provides tips for saving money.October 6, 2005
• Firewood sales heating up
  Facing record high costs for home heating, many people are turning to firewood, to provide a lower cost alternative to gas or oil, or to supplement more expensive heating fuels.October 4, 2005
• Get ready for sticker shock on your heating bill
  Minnesotans can thank hurricanes for causing a large spike in natural gas prices. Home heating bills will probably increase about 73 percent next month, according to the state Commerce Department.September 30, 2005
• Rising heating prices spur a surge in solar projects
  Solar advocates say the timing couldn't be better for Minnesota's annual tour of homes and businesses that use solar energy this weekend. That's because the cost of natural gas heating is predicted to soar this winter.September 30, 2005
• Biodiesel requirement takes effect
  State officials are celebrating the start of a new requirement Thursday that all diesel fuel sold in Minnesota contain 2 percent biodiesel.September 29, 2005
• Pawlenty pumps ethanol
  Governor Pawlenty is challenging other states to boost their ethanol consumption. He told a meeting of the Governors' Ethanol Coalition that the corn-based fuel will reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The group consists of 31 states and five countries that support ethanol. But unlike Minnesota, few of them mandate ethanol use.September 26, 2005
• Power line capacity at center of debate in western Minnesota
  Wind energy supporters are watching a proposed power project in South Dakota and Minnesota. They want to make sure any new transmission lines are also available to the wind and renewable energy industry.August 29, 2005
• Ethanol industry gets boost from energy bill
  The ethanol industry is a big winner in the new energy bill passed recently by Congress. The measure nearly doubles the required amount of renewable fuels used in gasoline. That translates into double the amount of ethanol needed to fulfill the standard in the next 10 years.August 5, 2005
• MPCA votes on Mesabi Nugget plant
  The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will decide today whether to issue permits for a proposed iron nugget plant in Hoyt Lakes on Minnesota's Iron Range. The Legislature put the controversial project on a fast track last year by exempting Mesabi Nugget from a full-scale environmental review.July 26, 2005
• Solar cars race across North America
  The North American Solar Challenge is a competition among 20 solar powered cars designed by college students. The solar car race is held every two years. This year racers travel along a 2,600 mile route from Texas to Calgary Alberta. At a Fargo, ND checkpoint a car built by University of Minnesota students led the race.July 21, 2005
• Minnesota wind energy sales increasing
  Then number of Minnesota residents paying extra on their electricity bill to boost the state's wind energy industry is increasing. About 16,000 households buy wind generated electricity each month.July 5, 2005
• Hatch seeks big fine against Centerpoint over winter shutoffs
  Attorney General Mike Hatch says one of Minnesota's largest utilities deliberately violated the state's cold weather rule last winter. Hatch says about 2,500 customers of CenterPoint Energy went without heat. He's asking state regulators to fine the company $5 million. CenterPoint officials say they've always worked to comply with the cold weather rule.June 21, 2005
• New transmission lines approved for Buffalo Ridge
  The state Environmental Quality Board has given final approval to routes for two new Xcel Energy transmission lines in southwestern Minnesota, a move that will greatly increase wind energy in the region.June 21, 2005
• Selling wood to the world
  A fourth-generation family business in northern Minnesota is learning to Think Global. The lumber industry has been internationalized in the last five years. Small lumber companies find themselves competing with products from nations with low wages and minimal environmental rules. One family-owned lumber business in northern Minnesota thinks it's figured out how to compete in this fast-changing, complicated market.May 19, 2005
• Power struggle
  With summer on the way, the demand for electricity goes up and so does the risk of electric power blackouts. A bill in the Minnesota legislature is designed to reduce that risk. But critics say it would turn too much control over to the federal government.May 17, 2005

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