xCooperative Energy Futures (CEF) is a member-owned cooperative business that exists to make clean energy accessible to all. We envision a future where community members own, manage, and use clean energy systems together for the collective benefit of all of us. We believe that while one person can only influence their own energy bills and use, many people acting together can change the entire energy system.
CEF develops and operates community solar gardens, with ten projects across Minnesota offsetting the electricity needs of more than 1,000 member households, affordable housing solar projects serving low-and-moderate income renters and homeowners, and will soon launch an energy efficiency program that makes home energy enhancements accessible to traditionally underserved households, including renters, low-income individuals, and others facing barriers to energy efficiency and electrification.
CEF has a particular focus on economic and racial justice, working to ensure that all projects are developed using an economic model that is deeply accessible to members regardless of income or credit and including options available at no upfront cost and net monthly savings, as well as prioritizing workforce equity in the energy industry. CEF uses member participation in our projects to build community wealth and unite and activate members from many different communities around a vision for our energy future that is rooted in community-controlled clean energy.
At Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF), we are redefining how energy works for communities. For too long, low-income households and communities of color have been overlooked by monopoly utilities, leaving the most vulnerable among us burdened with high energy costs and limited access to clean energy solutions. Recognizing this disparity, we focus on creating energy solutions that work even if you can’t invest upfront or don’t own a home—because if our solutions work for those facing the greatest barriers, they will work for everyone.
We use energy as a tool to help communities build wealth, regain control over their energy resources, and achieve climate justice. Our members, who live across urban, suburban, and rural Minnesota, are the driving force behind our cooperatively owned and operated clean energy projects. Together, we create equitable energy solutions that eliminate upfront costs and every kilowatt hour our projects produce represents savings for our member(s)/subscriber(s).. Our vision is a future where every household can participate in and benefit from the clean energy transition, fostering both economic and environmental sustainability.
