Cook County Local Energy Partnership board votes to dissolve

At the end of January, the Cook County Local Energy Partnership (CCLEP) board voted to take steps to dissolve the non-profit. Board President and Interim Executive Director Chris O’Brien told WTIP that the decision came after several years of struggling to secure sustainable funding for staffing the organization. Cook County Higher Education (CCHE) will take on some of the programs previously run by CCLEP.

CCLEP was founded in 2008, and O’Brien described its roots in the community. “It was really a citizens group that was formed by a group of volunteers who were very conscious of the growing crisis of climate change and the opportunities afforded by, you know, clean energy technologies and better energy efficiency,” he said.

Over the past 18 years the organization has been part of numerous efforts to encourage clean energy projects and education efforts focussed on energy efficiency. O’Brien named several efforts as highlights for CCLEP, including an energy audit program for homeowners, supporting a group of local youths who lobbied the City of Grand Marais to establish a Climate Action Plan, and hosting a series of events aimed at public education around clean energy.

Throughout the past two decades, O’Brien said that the organization operated on a “lean” budget. Historically the funding they have secured has allowed the group to work on projects, but the tight finances and fluctuating grant funding led to a high rate of turnover for the director role, according to O’Brien.

“As we looked at trying to become, to try to build something that was more stable and sustainable, that’s where we were looking for a more sustainable source of funding, and we’re not able to identify that,” he said.

O’Brien said that the board will now undertake the formal process of dissolution, but that the work begun by CCLEP, and some of the projects that are underway, will be carried on by CCHE. CCLEP assets will be consolidated into CCHE, and that organization will continue hosting things like the annual builders workshop and solar tour.

Knowing that the work that CCLEP began could continue was helpful to O’Brien as the board weighed how to move forward. He explained, “The fact that there was another organization, like Cook County higher education available to assume some of the programs and activities that CCLEP has historically done gave me a much better feeling about the decision to wind down CCLEP.”

O’Brien also said that for people looking for some of the information and resources previously provided by CCLEP, there are several state-wide organizations that he recommends. He suggested the Clean Energy Resource Teams, run through the University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Center for Energy and the Environment.

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with CCLEP Board President and Interim Executive Director Chris O’Brien about the decision to dissolve the organization. Audio of that interview is below.

Kirsten Wisniewski February 3, 2026