Cooperative Energy Futures

09/02/2026

What if your home could be more comfortable, use less energy, and help lower your energy bills?

CEF’s Sustainable Homes Program helps homeowners understand how their home is using energy and identify opportunities to make it more efficient—from insulation and air sealing to heating, cooling, and other energy-saving improvements.

- Use less energy
- Potentially lower your energy bills
- Improve comfort at home

The first step is a Home Energy Assessment, where we can take a closer look at your home and help identify opportunities for improvement.

Ready to get started? Schedule your Home Health Assessment through our website or reach out to us at [email protected].

Your home should work for you—not against you. 💚

08/24/2026

What if the things we rely on every day were owned by the people who use them?

That’s the idea behind a cooperative.

Instead of being built primarily to generate profits for outside investors, cooperatives are owned and democratically controlled by their members. That means the people who use the cooperative have a voice in how it operates and where its value goes.

And Minnesota has a seriously strong cooperative history.

Fun fact: By 1922, more than 4,500 local cooperatives had been organized across Minnesota, from cooperative creameries and farm organizations to stores, telephone companies and insurance cooperatives.

Today, cooperatives are still helping Minnesotans build a different kind of economy, one rooted in shared ownership, democratic decision-making and mutual benefit.

That’s why CEF is a cooperative.

We believe energy shouldn't just be something we buy.

It can be something we own.

08/19/2026

One of our favorite parts of the Sustainable Homes Program is getting to see what clean energy can actually look like in someone’s everyday life.

Jill recently shared her experience after having an energy assessment done on her 107-year-old home. With the recommendations from that assessment, her family moved forward with attic insulation, a new water heater, and a heat pump — which also meant something pretty exciting: their first-ever AC!

As Jill put it, becoming more reliant on electricity and less reliant on natural gas is “better for my pocketbook and better for our planet.”

That’s exactly the kind of change we want to help make possible: homes that are more comfortable, more energy efficient, and powered by cleaner energy, without people having to figure it all out on their own.

We’re so grateful Jill trusted our team to be part of her family’s journey. And we’re especially excited that community solar is next on her list.

Thank you, Jill, for sharing your story with us. ❤️

08/14/2026

Solar is about more than panels. It’s about people.

What does it look like when community solar is actually designed to reach the people who can benefit from it most?

Our Outreach team recently sat down with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Local Energy Rules podcast to talk about CEF’s work bringing community solar to manufactured home communities across Minnesota.

Sebastian Rivera and former CEF Outreach Representative Bryn Shank shared what they’ve learned from doing this work on the ground– from building trust with residents and meeting people where they are, to navigating the realities of energy burdens, housing, affordability, and access.

One of the biggest lessons? The technology matters, but relationships matter just as much.

Community solar can help make clean energy and energy savings accessible to people who may not be able to put solar on their own roof. But making that promise real takes transparency, trust, and a cooperative model that puts people at the center.

We’re proud of our team for helping show what energy democracy can look like in practice– one community, one conversation, and one community solar garden at a time.

Listen to the full Local Energy Rules episode and read the article from : https://ilsr.org/article/energy-democracy/community-solar-manufactured-homes-minnesota-ler277/

A Minnesota community solar cooperative earns trust and delivers savings in manufactured home parks.

08/12/2026

This isn’t our typical CEF content–but we think it’s an important part of telling the story of who we are.

CEF Communications Director Allye Doyle recently welcomed CEF General Manager & Team Leader Timothy DenHerder-Thomas onto her podcast, *Mixed Feelings*, for a deeply personal conversation about what it means to be biracial and mixed-race in the world.

In this episode, Allye and Timothy take a deep dive into their early lives, how their identities have shaped their experiences, and what it looks like to navigate the world as mixed-race people today. They also talk about how they bring their “mixed-race superpowers” into the work they do at CEF.

Because the people doing this work matter.

At CEF, we believe that energy justice is about more than solar panels, community solar gardens, or who gets to save money on their energy bill. It’s about building systems where *everyone* has the opportunity to have power, agency, dignity, and a voice.

And that work is deeply connected to the lived experiences we bring with us.

We wanted to share this episode because we think our members, partners, and community should know a little more about the people behind the work–and the stories, identities, and experiences that shape how we show up for a more just and equitable energy system.

Click the link below to listen.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6XcGHb5mLOvL4w6L73eap1?si=hDDAaPxFSVClN3em3nnefQ

Mixed Feelings · Episode

08/04/2026

distributing profits to our members has been our priority since day one. we want to build community wealth, together.

07/31/2026

We're honored to be featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of the conversation on how innovative financing can help organizations create lasting impact.

The article highlights how Cooperative Energy Futures is using a blend of philanthropic investment and grant funding to build something bigger than individual projects: a community-owned energy system that expands access to clean energy, lowers energy costs, and keeps wealth rooted in our communities.

As federal clean energy funding becomes more uncertain, catalytic investments from mission-aligned partners are helping us develop new projects, strengthen our cooperative, and continue ensuring that low-income households and communities of color can benefit from the clean energy transition—not be left behind.

This is what energy democracy looks like: investing in people, building community ownership, and creating systems that last.

Thank you to the Chronicle of Philanthropy for highlighting this work, and to our partners who believe that communities deserve to own their energy future.

Read the article here: https://www.philanthropy.com/news/why-some-foundations-are-lending-not-just-giving/

Amid ongoing economic uncertainty, some foundations are pairing grants with loans and investments to help nonprofits build lasting financial stability, not just cover this year's budget.

07/20/2026

We're growing!!!

At Cooperative Energy Futures, we're hiring a Director of Community Engagement & Outreach to help us continue to build a future where clean energy is community-owned, community-led, and accessible to everyone.

As a renewable energy cooperative, we believe people should be at the center of the energy system—not just as customers, but as owners, decision-makers, and partners in creating lasting change.

We're looking for someone who is passionate about building authentic relationships, organizing with communities, and advancing a more just and equitable energy future.

If that sounds like you, or someone you know, we'd love to hear from you. Please apply or share this opportunity with your network. 💚

Posted 7:10:32 PM. Date: August 30, 2026 or until filled FLSA status: Regular full time, exempt Salary: $80,000 –…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

07/06/2026

The solution to the question “how do we stabilize the electrical grid?” is in the palm of our own hands.

05/27/2026

They don’t want you to know this stuff. This is why it’s so important to stay educated and vigilant.