Bluestem Energy Solutions

05/01/2023

Exciting news! Part of our Bluestem team spent the afternoon volunteering at Food Bank for the Heartland last week. The food bank serves communities in 93 counties across Nebraska and western Iowa. It was an incredible opportunity to give back to our community and help those in need.

Our team worked together to sort and package over 1,200 meals for students. We're grateful for the opportunity to have participated in this volunteering event, and we look forward to future occasions to give back to our community. Thank you to the staff at Food Bank for the Heartland for the work they do every day to support those in need!

04/19/2023

Scholarship deadlines are coming up! Bluestem is proud to promote education and help students join the growing renewable energy industry. We aim to support students in their ambitions to begin careers and follow their passions in the energy sector. We have two scholarship deadlines coming up very soon, so if you know any eligible students from the participating schools, let them know! More details below:

For Northeast Community College students with an interest in career paths in the renewable energy industry, Bluestem offers a $1000 scholarship open to students in the following programs: Energy Technology, Electrical Construction, and Electromechanical Technology. If eligible, NECC students can apply for this scholarship through the online Scholarship Application located in their My Apps portal. The deadline is Friday, April 28.

https://northeast.edu/financial-aid-and-scholarships/scholarships

For students in Madison, Nebraska, who are interested in joining the growing renewable energy industry, Bluestem offers a $1500 scholarship for graduating seniors. Students graduating from Madison Public Schools and heading into the renewable energy industry can apply for this scholarship through their guidance counselor's office by Friday, April 21st.

03/21/2023

"Experts predict that PV recycling will become more prevalent as more solar panels begin to reach the end of their useful life, and recycling will present a larger business opportunity. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has allocated funding for solar PV recycling programs, which will also encourage growth over the next decade. Solar recycling companies are already emerging, seeking to recycle and sell the materials and keep panels out of landfills."

Read our full analysis here: https://www.bluestemenergysolutions.com/solar-panel-recycling-new-methods-look-promising/

01/20/2023

This month marks the two-year anniversary of the 2.3 MW Jo-Carroll Solar project! The two community solar sites also serve as pollinator-friendly habitats with native flowers and foliage.

According to Mike Casper, president and CEO of Jo-Carroll Energy, "The Bluestem solar projects provide support to our communities and represent a community solar opportunity for our members to support the development of local solar power with potential savings.”

Working with utilities to serve their communities is our mission, and we are proud to have Jo-Carroll Energy as our partner! Learn more about the project here:

https://www.bluestemenergysolutions.com/jocarrollsolarproject/

12/13/2022

The year 2022 marks the ten-year anniversary of Bluestem Energy Solutions. It's thrilling to celebrate this anniversary as the future of energy continues to evolve. The need for renewable energy solutions is ever-growing, and we are so proud to be at the forefront of innovation and service in our industry.

Bluestem was officially founded ten years ago, but our roots stretch back almost a century. We began as a venture of Boyd Jones Construction, with the intent to dive head-first into the nascent renewable energy industry. After developing our first wind project in Springview, Nebraska, we quickly realized that we had the chance to build a company with great potential for positive change.

The qualities that have made Bluestem a trusted energy partner to dozens of utilities – our innovation, our integrity, our entrepreneurship – are the same qualities that position us for significant impact in an evolving energy industry. Over the years, as our team has grown and technologies improve, we have taken every change in stride.

To our customers and supporters, thank you for believing in Bluestem’s mission! We are so proud to have empowered communities and served our partners for a full decade. Here’s to another ten amazing years!

Read more about our company anniversary here: https://www.bluestemenergysolutions.com/10-years-of-bluestem-energy-solutions/

09/08/2022

We're thrilled to see that the pollinator mix sown last year at this Jo-Carroll solar site is thriving this summer!

This pollinator-friendly solar site now has native vegetation growing, which creates a long-lasting habitat for pollinators. The site features a variety of wildflower-rich groundcover under the solar arrays, with a range of pollen and nectar sources.

Thank you to our utility partner Jo-Carroll Energy!

Learn more about the benefits of pollinator-friendly solar here:
https://www.bluestemenergysolutions.com/pollinator-friendly-solar-explained/

08/30/2022

We are proud to announce that the Franklin County Wind Project is fully operational! The wind facility will produce enough electricity to power approximately 2,000 homes annually, and 100% of the power will be used locally by the customers of Southern Public Power District.

The pair of 2.82-megawatt GE wind turbines are interconnected to Southern's 69kV sub-transmission line. The multimillion-dollar construction project will contribute over $3 million to the county via property tax revenue, construction, landowner payments, and ongoing operations and maintenance activities over the course of the project.

"We are extremely excited that the Bluestem Franklin County Wind Project is finally coming to a completion,” said Neal Niedfeldt, CEO of Southern Public Power District. “Southern Public Power District’s partnership with Bluestem Energy Solutions has been and will continue to be a great advantage for our customers as we work to continue to provide more carbon-free resources to our grid.”

Read more from the World-Herald!

The south-central Nebraska utility will be getting about 3% of its power from wind energy, its first foray into the renewable power source.

08/11/2022

Big news: we're announcing our first annual scholarship! Bluestem is offering an annual scholarship to Northeast Community College students through the school’s online scholarship application. The scholarship is exclusively aimed at students with an interest in career paths in the renewable energy industry.

With this new scholarship, we hope to promote education and help students in their ambitions to join the growing solar and wind energy fields. Congrats to Mitchell Edwin Jacobs, this year's recipient of the Bluestem Renewable Energy Scholarship!

Learn more about the scholarship here:

Bluestem is offering an annual scholarship to Northeast Community College students through the school’s online scholarship application.

08/01/2022

Central Community College is making the most of the Bluestem wind turbine located on its campus. According to Taylor Schneider, the energy technology instructor at the Hastings campus, CCC students are able to benefit from hands-on experience in the wind facility. Plus: every graduate from the program so far has found a career in the wind or solar industry!

We are so proud to be empowering the Hastings community by enabling these students to get hands-on experience right on their own campus. Read more here:

(KMAland) -- Central Community College of Nebraska is putting students of all ages on a path to good-paying jobs in the state's growing clean-energy sector.

07/19/2022

Check out this bird's eye view!

In celebration of the first full year of operation of the Burt County Solar-Plus-Storage project, we wanted to share this up-close look at the technology! This project consists of two separate solar-plus-storage facilities in Burt and Dodge Counties, Nebraska. Battery storage provides reliability and flexibility for energy providers and can be paired with any clean energy tech.

Thank you to our utility partner, Burt County Public Power District!

Learn more about the unique project here: https://www.bluestemenergysolutions.com/bluestem-and-burt-county-solar-plus-storage-project/

06/14/2022

We are so excited to follow all the progress being made on recycling wind turbine blades in the US! Check out this recycling plant in Lousiana, Missouri, which is one of the first facilities in the country able to fully break down and repurpose wind turbine blades.

We look forward to the continued pursuit of sustainability in the energy industry!

The wind energy industry is now facing a new challenge: what to do with old wind turbine blades when it’s time to replace them.

05/31/2022

In Midlands Business Journal's recent Energy and Utilities issue, Bluestem’s Director of Product Management, Will Crane, was able to share his insights on the energy sector, supply chain disruption, and improving the electrical grid.

“Energy storage will be crucial to allowing more renewables to be built while maintaining a reliable and resilient grid,” Crane said. “As wind and solar have become mature technologies and have proliferated onto the grid, storage is becoming a key tool we are using to increase the grid’s capability to handle more renewable power.

“There is a shortage of transmission capacity available for new generating sources. Energy storage can help mitigate this to an extent, but thoughtful new-build transmission infrastructure will be crucial to the continued implementation of renewable generating sources.”

Read more from Midlands Business Journal:

A meeting of 500 international energy figures at the Oil & Money Conference in London gave the co-sponsor New York Times access to the collective wisdom