A series of five video interviews about the U.P.'s energy situation from the Houghton Energy Efficiency Team discussing our region's renewable assets and options.

View video here>

The Michigan Nature Association guidebook titled Walking Paths & Protected Areas of the Keweenaw describes twenty-two sanctuaries & preserves in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties. Designed to increase awareness of local land conservation efforts in the Keweenaw; and the special habitats, unique features, and interesting plant and animal species.  More info>

Date: Sunday, July 22
Time: 1-4pm
Place: Copper Harbor

Celebrate the beauty and bounty of Lake Superior!  Copper Harbor community volunteers, along with the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, are organizing the 6th annual Lake Superior Day Festival with lots of special activities at the 6th Street Dock along the Copper Harbor Boardwalk (near Isle Royale Queen boat dock):

Enjoy fish stew (Kalamojakka), hot dogs, homemade pies, rieska (Finnish flatbread), and more at a community picnic ($5 donation suggested). Canoe races and kayak demonstrations. Interactive art (paint the model freighter!). Learn about Verna Mize, Lake Superior activist from Charlie Eshbach, Geoheritage by Dr. Erika Vye, and other topics relating to Lake Superior by Ken Vrana from the Isle Royale Institute at Michigan Technological University. Scientific excursion Agassiz research vessel. Live music, talks, poetry, and more.

The event is coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach and Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center, co-sponsored by the Copper Harbor Improvement Association and funded by the GM Ride the Waves Program.  The GM Ride the Waves Program puts more than 600 Copper Country youth and adults on the water each year to learn about the Great Lakes and Lake Superior, and promote STEM careers.

For more information about the event, contact lead organizer, Don Kilpela, Captain of the Isle Royale Queen, at (906) 289-4735.

Lake Superior Day is celebrated throughout the Lake Superior basin on or close to the 3rd Sunday in July in many communities around Lake Superior. The event, begun in the 1990s, highlights the special connections people have to this unique world treasure.  All residents who live, work, play, and worship around the lake are invited to organize events in their communities or take action in their homes, at their places of employment or in community groups to help protect Lake Superior. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality provides information on Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes at www.michigan.gov/deqgreatlakes or visit EPA’s website at: http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lakesuperior/index.html

When: Last Wednesday of the Month
Time: 7:30pm
Place: SKRC (Suite 316), Jutila Center in Hancock

An informal monthly meet up of folks interested in and experienced with renewable energy systems for the UP.

See event flyer for more details>

Find out more >

Michigan utility customers may be eligible for a free furnace or boiler tune-up through a statewide energy efficiency program. Tune-ups ensure heating systems are running cleanly and efficiently, saving residents money and eliminating health and safety risks.

Blue Terra Energy is conducting the free tune-ups, normally priced at $100, for natural gas utility customers in the western Upper Peninsula. Residents must be Semco Energy Gas Company customers to qualify. Customers can call (906) 487-5342 to schedule.

The free furnace and boiler tune-ups are funded by revenue collected from a small surcharge Michigan utility customers currently pay on their monthly bills. In addition to a free tune-up, customers may also be eligible to receive a new programmable thermostat and/or new carbon monoxide detector, free of charge.