Robbinsdale Joins XCel Energy and Partners in Helping Businesses Find Sustainable Options
A small group of consultants paused to talk with Robbinsdale Mayor Bill Blonigan and the city’s sustainability coordinator, Kayla Kirtz, outside of Wuollet Bakery one morning last week. The group had split up into pairs to visit businesses in town to talk with owners about ways they could maybe save money on their electric bills.
“Small business owners already wear a ton of hats. They don’t need to be energy efficiency experts,” said David Olson, a commercial business development representative with the Center for Energy and Environment. “We help provide that, so that they get the most bang for their buck, they get exactly what they’re looking for.”
CEE worked through the One Stop Efficiency Shop, a program funded by XCel Energy and its Partners in Energy program to help its customers identify ways to save money and allow energy to be used in their homes or businesses more efficiently.
“We want businesses to use less energy,” said XCel’s community relations manager, Michelle Swanson. “That lowers their bills, which makes them happy.” Swanson said it also helps the company get closer to its overall goal of producing 80% carbon-free electricity by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
The CEE representatives visited businesses alongside Blonigan and Kirtz, which Swanson says shows real partnership and buy-in on a number of levels in a given community. XCel currently works with dozens of Minnesota cities on similar programs.
“The city has relationships that sometimes we don’t have,” said Swanson. “I think there’s some reassurances at times when the city says, ‘This is the right thing to do, and these are great programs, and you should be participating in them,’ for some businesses that might make the difference and that might get them to actually take some action.”
Kirtz said the city continues developing and getting more businesses and residents involved in its Energy Action Plan.
