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4. - - <br /> Elk Riv .. <br /> Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br /> TO: FROM: <br /> Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Cal Portner—City Administrator <br /> John Dietz—Chair Kristin Mroz—Environmental Technician <br /> Al Nadeau—Vice Chair <br /> Daryl Thompson—Trustee <br /> MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br /> September 13, 2016 5.1 <br /> SUBJECT: <br /> Climate Smart Municipalities—Germany Tour 2016 <br /> BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: <br /> Cal Portner and Kristin Mroz toured the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany from July 3- <br /> 10, 2016 as a part of the Climate Smart Municipalities (CSM)partnership. The CSM is a 3 year <br /> grant from the Germany Transatlantic Program, also known as the Marshall Plan. Five <br /> Minnesota Cities (Elk River, Morris, Warren, Duluth, and Rochester) were selected to partner <br /> with five North Rhine-Westphalia communities (Iserlohn, Saerbeck,Arnsberg, Siegen, and <br /> Munster)to collaborate on climate and energy smart projects and programs. The goal of the <br /> partnership is to help Minnesota cities achieve the state's "Next Generation Energy Act" goal of <br /> reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 30%below 2005 levels by 2025, while boosting the <br /> local economy. <br /> A delegation of 27 members representing the five communities, the MN Environmental Quality <br /> Board,the MN Pollution Control Agency,the MN Department of Commerce,the Great Plains <br /> Institute,Ever-Green Energy,Affinity Plus Credit Union, and University of Minnesota traveled <br /> to Germany. The delegation met with German agencies including the Germany Foreign Office, <br /> the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy,the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for <br /> Climate Protection, Environment,Agriculture,Nature Protection and Consumer Protection, <br /> Energieagentur.NRW, and the Federal Environment Agency. <br /> The delegation traveled throughout the state,visiting our partner communities and touring a <br /> number of their sites while also learning from their community leaders. Communities visited <br /> included: <br /> Dusseldorf <br /> • High Efficiency CHP Plant tour <br /> • NRW Ministry overview <br /> • Roundtable Discussion <br /> POWEREOB BY <br /> r3 Page 1 of 3 NA1URE <br /> Reliable Public <br /> Power Provider P o w r r r o To SERVE <br /> 67 <br />