News updates
Be in the KnowRise Up news updates feature content curated in conjunction with the Rise Up policy partners. Content is intended to highlight key Midwest clean energy programs, policy updates, and important action alerts.
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Save Iowa’s Solar Tax Credit; then Stop Natural Gas Protectionism
Andy Johnson, Executive DirectorWinneshiek Energy District Iowa’s solar tax credit has been critical to the growth of locally-owned solar in Winneshiek County and throughout Iowa. Thanks to...
Renewable Energy Group Sues PSC in Effort to Expand Customer Access
The up-front cost of installing solar is often a barrier for customers, even though the value of the electricity produced from a solar electric system exceeds the installation costs after about...
Write the PSCW Today to Support More Solar in Wisconsin
The upfront cost of solar can be a barrier to access, especially for schools, nonprofit organizations and low wealth families. Luckily, third-party ownership (TPO) presents a tenable solution to...
Solar Advocates Hope Indiana Will Extend Higher Net Metering Rates Before They Expire
Environmentalists hope Indiana will extend net metering rates for solar before time runs out. Net metering gives people with solar panels credits for any excess energy that they deliver to the grid....
Major Companies, Institutions in Illinois Call for 100% Clean Energy Legislation
Nearly two dozen employers across the state urge lawmakers to strengthen clean energy and transportation programs during the 2021 legislative session. SPRINGFIELD, IL—Nearly two dozen companies and...
Energy Equity – Featuring NAACP’s Denise Abdul-Rahman
How do we achieve a more equitable energy economy? If you ask Denise Abdul-Rahman with the NAACP, she’ll kindly tell you that we need a system that increases employment opportunities and decreases...
IL Clean Energy Legislation – Make Your Voice Heard
Join E2 December 7 - 9 for Clean Energy Days of Action in Illinois On behalf of one of our Rise Up partners, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), we share the following event, asking IL clean energy...
Beyond Coal – Featuring Sierra Club’s Laura Lane & Ryan Hidden
Did you know that uneconomical coal plants in the Midwest are costing you, the ratepayer, millions of dollars? In recent years, utilities across the region have been clinging to uneconomical coal...
Clean Energy Jobs Pay 25% More Than National Median
We already know how important the clean energy sector is, employing more than 1 in every 50 Americans in 2019. But what do those jobs look like, and what do they pay? The first-of-its-kind Clean...
Attend a Free Solar Training Info Session
As a part of Rise Up Midwest!, MREA has partnered with Walnut Way in Milwaukee, WI to offer an introductory solar installation training program to eligible applicants. Learn more about this solar...
Local Energy Influence – Featuring SOPEC’s Mathew Roberts
How can your community gain influence over how your energy dollars are spent? It’s not easy. In this episode, we discuss how jurisdictions are harnessing their economic and political power to get...
Midwest Energy Leadership: IL Governor Issues Principles that Would Achieve 100% Clean Energy
Just this week, Senate Democrats released a 200+ page Federal climate roadmap they intend to put into action if they take back the majority this November. The full document, The Case for Climate...
Credit Where Credit is Due – Featuring Winneshiek Energy District’s Andy Johnson
If you have been following energy policy developments in the Midwest over the last 5 years, you’ve probably noticed that electric utilities recently switched from fighting against solar energy development to developing solar projects at a record pace. Have energy companies seen the light? Should we shelve our concerns about wealthy, monopoly for-profit utility companies using their privileged market status and political connections to fight against solar energy and energy efficiency? Not so fast.
A Big Win for Solar
In a controversial April petition, the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) petitioned the Federal Energy Regulation Commision (FERC) to assert jurisdiction over any on-site, behind-the-meter...
Electricity Cost Burdens Have Shifted due to COVID-19
In a time where the future of the office is more uncertain than ever, where the home-office has become the new office, and where unemployment has been at unprecedented levels, we are seeing electricity cost burdens shifting away from employers and onto home employees or the unemployed.
Climate Change Task Force – Take Action Now to Help Develop Wisconsin’s Best Path Forward
The State of Wisconsin Governor's Task Force on Climate Change is working to develop a plan and identify items to be implemented to meet the state's goal of 100% carbon-free energy by 2050 and they...
Get Up and Try – Featuring Outrider Foundation’s Tia Nelson
How does a small kid from a small town make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of many people? If you ask Tia Nelson, she’ll tell you that it is by using our power to get up every day and try. In this episode, we interview Tia Nelson about her decades of work in service of her father’s vision of improving the world’s most polluted environments in service of the people that live there.
A Commitment from the MREA Executive Director
Our moment has a clear calling: Social and Economic Justice.
Preparing for a Post-Pandemic Energy Revolution: Highlighting Successful and Scaleable Midwest Energy Policies
Last month, Forbes published an article arguing that what the post-pandemic world needs is a solar energy revolution. The article details what many of us in the clean industry already know: solar...
TurmOil – Featuring Journalist Bethany McLean
The nation’s self-proclaimed industry of independence has never been more dependent. How can we regain control and stability in our energy markets? Generate locally.
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The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is a non-profit organization with the mission to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration.