CenterPoint Energy Plants a Green Future on Minneapolis Downtown Riverfront
Monday, September 20, 2021 at 1:56PMVia a September 20 e-announcement from CenterPoint Energy:
Pollinator gardens to grow where gas was once produced from coal (and where gas will soon be made from water)
CenterPoint Energy traces its history more than 150 years ago to the founding of the Minneapolis Gas Light Company in 1870. In those early days, gas was produced from coal at a facility near the Mississippi Riverfront and then delivered through hollow wood logs to provide the first artificial nighttime light on the downtown streets of Minneapolis.
Today, the coal is long gone, the soil has been cleaned up and the once-industrial riverfront is now a vibrant downtown neighborhood and recreational destination. Soon, it will be home to a pollinator habitat on CenterPoint Energy property, where a demonstration project is also in the works to produce zero-carbon “green hydrogen” from water to blend with the utility’s natural gas supply.
On Thursday morning, Sept. 23, about 75 CenterPoint Energy employees and volunteers from the Great River Coalition will plant three downtown pollinator gardens featuring native flowers, plants and grasses that offer a critical habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinator insects. Great River Greening is CenterPoint Energy’s nonprofit partner in creating and managing the pollinator gardens.
Event schedule:
CenterPoint Energy, Corner of West River Parkway and 13th Avenue S (map)
The pollinator gardens and the green hydrogen project reflect CenterPoint Energy’s ongoing environmental stewardship as Minnesota’s largest natural gas utility, serving 890,000 residential and business customers in more than 260 communities. Information about the pollinator gardens is available at www.CenterPointEnergy.com/MNpollinators
