Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light

Line Extension Policy Comment Writing Workshop
2025-08-14 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Primero de Mayo Workers’ Center, 3521 E Lake St, Minneapolis, 55406, United States
A public comment workshop and free dinner. Dinner at 6 p.m., program begins at 6:30 p.m.
Minnesota’s energy regulators are making important decisions about the gas that powers many of our homes, and what changes are needed to better align the gas system with our state’s climate goals. We can have clean, reliable locally made energy that prioritizes the health of our communities. Hear about the Future of Gas proceeding at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, and how to make your voice heard through submitting a public comment. Learn from regulatory experts, have a chance to ask questions about the docket, and submit your comment before you leave.
Co-hosted by Clean Heat Minnesota, MNIPL, CUB Minnesota, COPAL, and Fresh Energy
RSVP requested to help us provide the best estimates for dinner and organizing the event. Please register using the below form.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Building a Resilience Network in St Peter: The Role for Faith Communities
2025-08-26 12:00 - 13:30 | First Lutheran Church, 1655 18th Ave E South McKay, Alexandria, United States
Join us for a conversation about how your St. Peter-area faith community can prepare to help people in times of weather disruptions and complement services that may be provided by government and other organizations. Over the last year, MNIPL has conducted extensive research into a concept that is seeing greater demand as weather disruptions increase: Resilience Hubs. We have developed resources and are piloting 12 resilience hubs around the state beginning in September. We’ll offer a brief 10 to 15 minute presentation and then open up the space for conversation and questions about how your community could be part of a resilience network in and around St Peter.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Extreme Weather, Property Insurance, and Community Response in St Peter: A Listening Session
2025-08-26 15:00 - 20:00 | Big Hill Farm at Gustavus Adolphus College, 800 W College Ave, St Peter, 56082, United States
Please join us at 3 pm for a tour of Big Hill Farm at Gustavus Adolphus with the Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation’s co-directors Kari Wallin and Darsa Donelan who will also take us on a tour of the college’s new 1.0 Megawatt solar system.
Then at 5:30 pm join us for dinner at the St. Peter Community Center and a second Listening Session on issues related to weather disruptions and insurance coverage with Peter Brickwedde, the Senior Director of Insurance Sustainability & Climate at the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Community Climate Resilience Hubs – September Gathering
2025-09-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Our Minnesota communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from widespread drought to bigger and more dangerous storms. Our neighbors are going to need support in building the relationships, infrastructure, and support to prevent and adapt to the realities of climate disruption. Minnesota’s communities of faith, and community organizations are uniquely poised to meet this particular moment.
That’s why MNIPL is launching the Community Climate Resilience Network. These trainings and conversations will bring together organizations throughout the state that are interested in meeting this moment. We’ll cover topics like, “What are Resilience Hubs?”, building good and right relationships with your communities, and emergency preparedness with experts in the field.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE SEPTEMBER SESSION!

Soaring Forward with Solar
2025-09-19 12:00 - 14:00 | Celtic Junction Arts Center, 836 Prior Ave N, St Paul, 55104, United States
Join us for a celebration of the new solar array at the Celtic Junction Arts Center and learn how non-profits across the state can benefit from solar partnerships and green financing from the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority (MnCIFA)!
The event will include lunch and remarks from the Governor’s Office, elected officials, MnCIFA leaders, and local architects. You’ll also have the opportunity to tour the Celtic Junction Arts Center solar array and learn more about how 8 non-profits are installing solar arrays with zero money down.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
Agenda:

12:00 Gather, lunch, and live music
12:30 Press Conference and short address by MnCIFA, the Governor’s Office and solar equity partners (Lake Street Solar, MNIPL and Apadana)
1:00 Tour and conversation about how this process worked and how other non-profit or communities of faith, conscience, or spiritual practice can be part of the next portfolio

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Sun Day: Day of Action
2025-09-21 13:00 - 16:00 | Graco Park, 810 Sibley St NE, Minneapolis, 55413, United States
Sun Day is a nationwide day of action on September 21, 2025, celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind. We all know that clean energy is the only way. Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power on the planet – and gives us a chance to actually do something about the climate crisis. But fossil fuel billionaires are doing everything they can to shut it down. We will build, rally, sing, and come together in the communities that we need to get laws changed and work done.
Here in Minnesota, the Twin Cities’ Sun Day festival will feature inspiring music, theatrical performances, interactive activities, and exhibits, where the “solar-curious” (including families) can have fun while also exploring options for their own participation in the clean-energy revolution.
We’re very excited to be holding the festival at Graco Park, Minneapolis’ newest park, located on the Mississippi River in NE Minneapolis, with nearby parking, bus lines, and bike and walking paths. The festival will be one of the park’s first big events. It’s an ideal location for a Sun Day festival. The park has a net-zero building with a solar array, geothermal, and hundreds of native plants.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!
The Twin Cities’ Sun Day is hosted by COPAL (Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action), the Sierra Club North Star Chapter, MNIPL (Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light), and Third Act Minnesota. Many other organizations will also be participating.
Bill McKibben, founder of Third Act and Sun Day, wrote an excellent guest essay for the New York Times where he lifts up the importance of acting collectively to keep advancing a clean energy future. Join us in acting collectively at the Sun Day Festival in September!
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Extreme Weather, Property Insurance, and Community Response: An East Metro Listening Session
2025-09-25 17:00 - 19:00 | The Grove United Methodist Church, 7465 Steepleview Rd, Woodbury, MN, 55125
Join the Grove UMC, Woodbury Community Foundation, East Metro EcoFaith Collaborative, Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, and Minnesota Department of Commerce, the state’s insurance regulator, for a listening session on the impacts of extreme weather and property insurance changes on folks in the East Metro.
We have the opportunity to shape state administrative and legislative policy by sharing our stories: How have you experienced weather impacting your life and livelihood? What has changed in the property insurance landscape over the past decade?
Peter Brickwedde, Senior Director for Insurance Sustainability and Climate at the Minnesota Department of Commerce will facilitate the conversation and describe response measures available at the state and local level.
A light meal will be served, and we’ll explore these themes to help us make a plan to respond at the state and local level.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Quarterly Community Offering - Autumn 2025
2025-09-25 19:00 - 20:15 | Zoom
Through the year and beyond, we’ll be hosting Quarterly Movement Offerings, which will be an opportunity to share what we’re working on and hear from you what you’re paying most attention to. Each session will have information about the state of climate justice work here and abroad, an opportunity to reconnect us to the importance of building a more equitable and interdependent world, and tangible action steps our communities can take to move us forward.
Now, more than ever, we need you to show up for what we know to be true: that radical kindness can create meaningful change, that decarbonizing our world’s energy is not a partisan issue, and that the moment for building our local and global capacity to prepare for climate disruption is upon us.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE AUTUMN QUARTERLY COMMUNITY OFFERING

Building a Resilience Network in Central Minnesota: The Role of Faith Communities
2025-10-07 12:00 - 13:30 | First Lutheran Church, 1655 18th Ave E South McKay, Alexandria, United States
Join Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light and First Lutheran Church as we explore the role of communities of faith, conscience, or spiritual practice in a growing local resilience network. MNIPL will share about our Community Climate Resilience Network, a statewide network of resilience hubs, and we will have a conversation about the barriers and bridges to how Morris area communities can take advantage of resources for building resilience.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Extreme Weather, Property Insurance, & Community Response: A Central Minnesota Listening Session
2025-10-07 16:00 - 18:00 | Douglas County Administration Building, 821 Cedar Street, Alexandria, United States
Join MNIPL and the West Central Initiative for a listening session on the impacts of extreme weather and property insurance changes on folks in Central Minnesota.
We have the opportunity to shape state administrative and legislative policy by sharing our stories: How have you experienced weather impacting your life and livelihood? What has changed in the property insurance landscape over the past decade?
We’ll share a meal together and explore these themes to help us make a plan to respond at the state and local level.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Act Now on Solar & Efficiency Upgrades: How to Take Advantage of Tax Credits Before They Expire
2025-10-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
If you or your organization have been thinking about solar or energy efficiency projects for your home or building, now is the time to act!
The One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump signed into law this year will sunset many of the federal incentives supporting the clean energy transition. But there is still time to access reimbursements – up to 30% – for some projects.

Buff Grace from MNIPL will present on options for taking advantage of the solar tax credit whether for residences, businesses, or nonprofits, including faith communities. He will also describe a no-cost solar rebates option for businesses or nonprofits..

James Birr from the Citizens Utility Board will share how to take advantage of other energy and efficiency upgrades.
Join us to learn more about what you can do to access these tax credits or direct pay options!
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Policy Team Meeting
2025-10-16 16:00 - 17:15 | Zoom
Now is a great time to join the MNIPL Policy Team. We’re working together to develop and advance the policies we need to achieve our better climate future.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Community Climate Resilience Hubs – October Gathering
2025-10-21 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Throughout this year, MNIPL is inviting people like you to join our Community Climate Resilience Network (CCRN) to engage communities across the state in a training series that shares the best practices about how to create resilient communities.
Join us on October 21 to learn about ways to strengthen your facility and energy systems for improved resilience. Learn about solar electricity and battery backup as well as the ways your building systems can be supported and upgraded to face weather disruptions.
Solar Electricity: Federal support for solar energy systems will change dramatically in 2026, but you can take steps yet in 2025 to retain thousands in federal funding.
Battery Storage: Paired with rooftop solar, battery storage can supply some or all of your electrical needs in times of power outages. Cecelia Hartigan, an electrical engineer with Apadana Energy, will join us to talk about this technology and what you should consider when considering battery storage.
Building Resilience: Jeremy Davis of Minify Energy will join us to address building envelope issues and other internal needs such as heating and air systems when planning for resilience in the face of weather disruptions.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE OCTOBER SESSION!

The More They Build, The More They Make: How Utilities Plan for Profit
2025-10-23 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Utility companies make money when they build energy infrastructure. The cost of that infrastructure is passed on to customers through rate hikes – like the 13% rate increase Xcel is proposing right now. How can we tell if what utilities propose are the things that best serve our pocketbooks and communities?
Join us for a webinar to learn more about the way utilities are incentivized to build infrastructure and how that affects our rates. We will also be joined by Brian Edstrom, Senior Regulatory Advocate for the Citizens Utility Board, to discuss the current Xcel Rate Case that is open for public comment through the end of the year.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

When a Data Center Comes to Town: What Are Minnesota Communities Getting (or Losing) from Data Centers?
2025-11-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Giant tech companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon are building massive data centers across the country in anticipation of generative AI uses.

But do these data centers benefit the communities they’re built in? What sort of impact do they have on the people who live around them, the water and land, the environment and our climate?
Join us for a webinar about how data centers have impacted communities in other parts of the country, and learn what you can do when these companies come to town.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Community Climate Resilience Hubs – November Gathering
2025-11-18 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Our Minnesota communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from widespread drought to bigger and more dangerous storms. Our neighbors are going to need support in building the relationships, infrastructure, and support to prevent and adapt to the realities of climate disruption. Minnesota’s communities of faith, and community organizations are uniquely poised to meet this particular moment.
That’s why MNIPL is launching the Community Climate Resilience Network. These trainings and conversations will bring together organizations throughout the state that are interested in meeting this moment. We’ll cover topics like, “What are Resilience Hubs?”, building good and right relationships with your communities, and emergency preparedness with experts in the field.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE NOVEMBER SESSION!

Community Climate Resilience Hubs – December Gathering
2025-12-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Our Minnesota communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from widespread drought to bigger and more dangerous storms. Our neighbors are going to need support in building the relationships, infrastructure, and support to prevent and adapt to the realities of climate disruption. Minnesota’s communities of faith, and community organizations are uniquely poised to meet this particular moment.
That’s why MNIPL is launching the Community Climate Resilience Network. These trainings and conversations will bring together organizations throughout the state that are interested in meeting this moment. We’ll cover topics like, “What are Resilience Hubs?”, building good and right relationships with your communities, and emergency preparedness with experts in the field.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR THE DECEMBER SESSION!
