CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

C50

Classification

1000

Street

212 3RD AVE N STE 560

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Other organizations at this address

1 other organization in the IRS Business Master File lists the same street address. matched by us

This address is a suite or unit (STE 560). Organizations that share one are often clients of the same office-services firm, accountant or registered agent rather than related to each other.

We match the street line and ZIP code as the IRS gives them, ignoring case and outer spaces and nothing else, so "AVE" and "AVENUE" count as different streets and this list can miss some. A shared address can mean related organizations or a shared office, but it can also be a registered agent, a mail drop or a service provider holding mail for unrelated clients. It is not, by itself, evidence that two organizations are connected.

• CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT VEBA HEALTH SAVINGS TR

  EIN 20-8464879

Mission and programs · 2025

• ENERGY CONSERVATION SERVICES: CEE delivers programs throughout the upper Midwest and other cold-climate U.S. regions. CEE's programs reduce energy use, improve safety, and lower utility costs in Minnesota's homes, businesses, and communities. With competitive funding from government grants, utilities, philanthropy, and program partners, every year CEE supports improvement opportunities in more than 10,000 homes and businesses. We prioritize reducing the costs of energy services and maximizing bill savings for all Minnesotans. In residential programming, CEE delivers the utility-funded Home Energy Squad, pairing energy-saving installations with energy assessments to improve home comfort and savings. In 2025, CEE completed over 7,200 visits and helped save energy amounting to about 3 gigawatt hours and 29,000 decatherms. And 1,498 residents used the free Energy Advisor Service to complete energy efficiency projects and earn 1,767 rebates. Also in residential programming, CEE's utility-supported Multifamily Energy Solutions program has served over 14,000 multifamily units, resulting in annual average savings of $27 per unit on natural gas bills and an additional $11 per unit on electricity. In 2025, over 50 Rochester households attended Neighbor Energy Challenge workshops and CEE staff delivered over 480 energy saving kits to residents in Duluth, Eagan, Rochester, and Worthington. Separately in 2025, CEE's Authorized Insulation Contractor Program completed 26 onsite quality assurance inspections and 8 remote quality assurance inspections, onboarded 7 new contractors, and certified 18 new crew leaders. Another residential program, CEE's New Homes Single-family and Multifamily Rater Services, performed a variety of energy consulting and ratings for 302 homes and 95 builders; for multifamily developers, the program worked on 19 buildings with 9 builders and 11 developers covering over 500 apartment units. Among CEE's services for businesses, One-Stop Efficiency Shop offers a full-service rebate program for small- to mid-size businesses in Xcel Energy's Minnesota services territory, with a focus on lighting, free smart thermostat installations, rooftop unit improvements, and refrigeration. In 2025, One-Stop completed 1,843 projects including 696 smart thermostat installations, leading to the conservation of 13 megawatts and 59.3 gigawatt hours of energy, as well as $11 million in disbursed rebates and $6 million in annual savings for local businesses. Programming for communities relies on local insights and data to tailor planning to each community's unique goals. In 2025, CEE implemented the utility-funded Partners in Energy program for 22 cities, providing services to develop and implement energy action plans. CEE also offers consulting to help communities reach their goals with support for project financing, policy and technical advising, stakeholder engagement, energy benchmarking, resilience planning, and more. In 2025, CEE became the technical assistance provider for Minnesota's federally funded, low-income Weatherization Assistance Program. Our support for underserved communities also includes energy-rating and quality assurance for affordable housing, disadvantaged communities, as well as workforce training. CEE offers utility-supported paid training to join the clean energy sector as energy auditors, insulation installers, line workers, and contractors. In 2025, CEE trained more than 125 people for energy-sector careers. In 2025, we added 10 new contractors as employer hosts for 14-week long internships. Separately, CEE also delivers Minnesota Home Energy Training, a state-funded program that similarly recruits, trains, and supports energy efficiency careers.

  Expenses $18,223,134 · Grants $1,000 · Revenue $21,566,649

• MARKET TRANSFORMATION: CEE was previously selected through a rigorous application process to deliver Minnesota's Efficient Technology Accelerator (ETA), a statewide market transformation program to accelerate deployment and reduce the cost of promising new technologies, bringing lower energy bills and environmental benefits to all Minnesotans. Starting at an early stage of development, ETA's work is closely monitored by Minnesota's Department of Commerce, funding utilities, and other key stakeholders. In 2025, CEE's ETA program used multiple approaches to promote heat pumps, a well-vetted technology to decarbonize heating in single-family homes. CEE's efforts have helped ducted heat pumps to jump from just 4% of the HVAC cooling market in 2020 to 17% by 2025. To support the growth, CEE trained 270 HVAC contractors to properly install and effectively sell heat pumps. Our preferred contractor list expanded to 73 contractors to help Minnesotans save money and cut carbon emissions. ETA also helped dramatically advance Minnesota's residential energy code. A state advisory committee adopted all of CEE's 17 sponsored amendments to the recent residential energy building code. The resulting code will reduce energy use by 21 percent and generate 30-year net savings of $37,200 to Minnesota homeowners. In the filing year, ETA reached a major milestone, for the first time reporting statewide energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and emissions reductions related to residential heat pumps, high-performance windows in new construction, and LLLC lighting controls. Early evidence of market shifts and reduced barriers include increased product availability, improved contractor familiarity, and notable upticks in adoption of ETA's promoted technologies.

  Expenses $6,375,412 · Revenue $986,482

• LENDING: In 2025, CEE disbursed 1,801 home improvement loans totaling over $21 million. In recognition of CEE's integrity as an exemplary lender, the MN Housing Finance Agency annually recognizes CEE's loan officers among top producers of Fix Up loans. CEE's statewide and county loans make it more feasible for homeowners in Minnesota to make energy efficiency improvements and remodel their homes with low-interest financing. Thanks to strong partnerships with many cities, CEE offers several special loan, grant, and down payment assistance programs for Minnesotans. Throughout the state, CEE has improved residential and commercial properties through project financing for over 40 years. Aligned with CEE's mission, our loan programs promote energy efficiency and make improvements more manageable. Government partners benefit from CEE's efficient administration of their loan funds to meet specific community goals.

  Expenses $2,096,919 · Revenue $2,460,337

• RESEARCH: From field studies to data-driven analyses, CEE's research provides actionable insights to help reduce energy use, lower costs, and advance clean energy technologies. Current focus areas include heat pumps, envelope sealing, building energy codes, and efficient commercial refrigeration. In 2025, CEE managed 27 active research projects investigating a wide range of energy-related technologies, field-testing and reporting on 22 building technologies. With competitive funding from Minnesota's Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, and utility partners, CEE investigates and identifies a wide range of cost-effective technologies and ideas. From homes to high-rises, CEE field-tests building systems and equipment, generating objective data on measured energy savings. Our nationally recognized research staff has published more than 100 technical papers on building and mechanical system performance. Having earned a reputation as a national expert on cold-climate heat pump technology for residential buildings, CEE is now helping to study heat pumps for commercial buildings as well. In 2025, we recruited 12 businesses to install and test high-performance HVAC rooftop units. And because insulation and air sealing are critical factors in energy use, in 2025 we tested continuous exterior insulation as a retrofit for single-family homes, a spray applied "aero-barrier" to tighten leaky homes, and a new method to air-seal crawlspaces. We also began a research project to reduce loads in commercial buildings, which tend to be harder to retrofit with insulation than residential buildings.

  Expenses $2,231,489 · Revenue $1,358,723

• PUBLIC POLICY SUPPORT AND DISSEMINATION: CEE advances clean energy policy at local, state, and national levels. Informed by research and real-world insights from program practitioners, CEE's policy work prioritizes equitable, realistic solutions and broad-based, non-partisan coalitions to advance policies with broad support to stand the test of time. In 2025, CEE successfully negotiated a new low-income weatherization fund paid by large data centers in Minnesota. CEE's collaborative efforts resulted in nation-leading legislation for a $2 million-$5 million annual fee on large data centers to fund low-income weatherization in Minnesota. Fees from two recently announced data centers will increase the state's federal low-income weatherization appropriation by approximately 50%. CEE also successfully established a new multi-factor utility performance incentive to advance efficiency policy goals. We built consensus to shift to a broader framework that encourages investments in insulation, air sealing, income-qualified programs, and electrification. Separately, CEE helped Minnesota to set an electric heating rate that is nearly 50% lower than Xcel Energy's winter electric rate. Every year, CEE engages communities, businesses, and individuals about better choices to reduce carbon emissions, save money, foster innovation, and improve equity. Aligned with our mission, we share our learning on a variety of energy-related topics to help inform and improve our field and people's lives. In 2025 CEE published 41 educational blog posts, 9 news releases, 16 reports or case studies, hundreds of social media posts on multiple platforms, and also contributed to about two-dozen traditional media news stories.

  Expenses $564,547 · Revenue $409

As filed on the 2025 return.

Officers and directors · 2025

As listed in Part VII of the 2025 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2025

  Revenue

  $39,542,100

  Expenses

  $37,029,854

  Contributions

  $11,764,586

  Grants paid

  $1,000

• 2024

  Revenue

  $33,658,150

  Expenses

  $29,798,537

  Contributions

  $8,854,162

  Grants paid

  $6,125

• 2023

  Revenue

  $24,548,360

  Expenses

  $24,132,439

  Contributions

  $5,305,844

  Grants paid

  $1,000

• 2022

  Revenue

  $17,943,559

  Expenses

  $20,182,749

  Contributions

  $1,419,755

  Grants paid

  $1,000

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

• 2024 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2021 · 990

  Revenue

  $20,004,969

  Expenses

  $18,421,853

  Assets (EOY)

  $44,159,185

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $15,847,986

  Expenses

  $18,277,719

  Assets (EOY)

  $44,268,004

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $15,558,216

  Expenses

  $10,759,321

  Assets (EOY)

  $37,220,051

• 2015 · 990

  Revenue

  $14,592,094

  Expenses

  $11,376,843

  Assets (EOY)

  $32,599,166

• 2014 · 990

  Revenue

  $10,543,735

  Expenses

  $11,096,356

  Assets (EOY)

  $30,801,460

• 2013 · 990

  Revenue

  $8,073,507

  Expenses

  $11,500,938

  Assets (EOY)

  $31,813,467

• 2012 · 990

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  $11,588,851

  Assets (EOY)

  $38,107,154

• 2011 · 990

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  $12,436,678

  Assets (EOY)

  $35,760,564

• 2010 · 990

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  $11,259,740

  Assets (EOY)

  $32,608,842

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

• UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION

  $242,000

  2024 · TO SUPPORT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO BUILD A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE.

• NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TR

  $200,000

  2024 · ENVIRONMENT, ANIMALS

• UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION

  $175,000

  2023 · TO SUPPORT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO BUILD A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE.

• ENERGY ACTION FUND

  $100,000

  2024 · TO SUPPORT CLEAN ENERGY POLICY ADVANCEMENT IN THE STATES.

• ENERGY ACTION FUND

  $25,000

  2023 · TO SUPPORT CLEAN ENERGY POLICY ADVANCEMENT IN THE STATES.

• UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION

  $20,000

  2022 · TO SUPPORT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO BUILD A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE.

• FAMILY HOUSING FUND

  $16,500

  2025 · POST-PURCHASE LOAN MARKETING

• MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION

  $15,000

  2022 · GENERAL - CEE ENERGY INDUSTRY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

• CAPI USA

  $10,000

  2022 · COMMUNITY SERVICES

Related organizations

From Schedule R Part II, where a filer lists the tax-exempt organizations it is related to by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

Other IRS files