Rural Renewable Energy Alliance

05/29/2026

RREAL May 2026 Newsletter

ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY! We are excited to be launching a new program focused on helping small Minnesota communities save on utility bills. The program has four components: Complete energy assessments for city-owned buildings and infrastructure to identify projects that can bring s...

05/29/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL: Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been named the President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. As Governor, he signed the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007, which set new state energy policy goals and required increased reliance on energy efficiency and renewable energy alternatives as well as targeted fossil fuel use reduction. Congrats, Tim!

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is leading the transformation to a clean energy economy. Learn more at seia.org

05/22/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL. 90 years ago, on May 20, 1936 the Rural Electrification Act was signed into law. About that time, 90% of urbanites had electricity, but only 10% of farmers and other rural residents. The act followed an Executive Order by Franklin Delano Roosevelt a year earlier creating the Rural Electrification Administration which provided oversight of the process and once the law was passed was allowed to make loans and provide technical assistance. The most important move by the government was to not give this business to companies, but through cooperatives. Thus began the rural electric cooperative movement! Member owned and democratically led based on principles not profit. In less than 20 years, rural access to electricity matched that of urban areas! Fast forward to now: The last 20 years has seen a huge growth in renewable energy. Electric Co-ops + affordable, renewable energy -- what will the next 20 years bring?

Discover how the Rural Electrification Act powered millions of rural homes in the 1930s and continues to influence infrastructure expansion, including broadband access, today.

05/15/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL. Colorado approved plug-in (a.k.a. balcony) solar late last week. We've highlighted advancements in access to plug-in solar several times in the past year. There is a link within this story that explaines meter collars, if you want to understand how this integrates into your home.

Colorado is the latest state to approve plug-in solar (also known as balcony solar) after Gov. Jared Polis signed HB26-1007 into law. The legislation led

05/11/2026

With Clean Energy Economy MN – We just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

05/08/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL. Looking north, Canada's electricity generation is 66% from renewables. 86% of that amount is from hydropower (12% wind, 2% solar). 24% of all energy consumption in the country is from renewables (11.7% in the US).

Canada has continued to take advantage of its vast natural resources and has benefited from the shale revolution alongside rising oil sands production and investment in the energy sector. The medium-term outlook for gas and oil production and exports, how

05/01/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL. The Minnesota energy fact sheet is out with data from 2025. 33% of Minnesota's electricity production comes from renewables! 55% is from zero-carbon sources! 90% of new generation capacity added in 2025 was from renewables. More fun facts are included in the full report below. RREAL was in attendance at the factsheet release event put on by Clean Energy Economy MN at the Wilder Foundation in Saint Paul. https://www.cleanenergyeconomymn.org/factsheet

04/24/2026

Friday Fun Fact from RREAL! Walt Disney World says its new solar facility can produce 100% of the daytime power for all its parks. The theme parks and associated hospitality services run by Disney are supported by 74.5MW of solar. Disney is fun, clean (energy) fun!

Walt Disney World's new solar facility to provide 100% of daytime power for all parks

04/18/2026

Friday (Saturday) fun fact from RREAL. A few weeks ago we posted about improvements to solar cell efficiency. Today is a different advancement in solar energy capture that could be a bigger breakthrough if it can be mass produced at reasonable cost. ‘Spin-flip’ and ‘singlet fission’ are entering the lexicon of solar PV technology. The headline is a bit misleading, you’ll have to read the article to understand the breakthrough. Enjoy!

Energy can never be created or destroyed. That's basic Physics 101. You simply cannot create energy out of thin air. Yet researchers at Kyushu University in Japan say they have developed a technology that pushes the energy conversion efficiency of solar cells to 130%!