Leading with Clean Power across Minnesota Facilities

At Andersen, we aim to grow and innovate while also minimizing our environmental footprint and contributing positively to our communities and world. That's why we're investing in renewable energy sources, powering several of our Minnesota facilities with 100% renewable electricity* and supporting further adoption of clean energy across our operations. 

In 2024, Andersen signed on to Xcel Energy’s Renewable*Connect program, an innovative offering that increases Xcel Energy’s network of wind and solar electricity generation. In turn, this participation fuels our Minnesota facilities with clean electricity.

Through our relationship with Xcel Energy, the following Minnesota facilities and operations operate on 100% renewable electricity*. In the last 12 months, this program enabled us to run our corporate offices, assemble more than 1.2 million windows and doors, develop and test future product offerings, and power the electric vehicles of our Minnesota-based team members, all with renewable electricity.

• Corporate Administrative Office (CAO) in Oak Park Heights: Powering more than 250 business days, from desk monitors and computers to kitchen appliances and lights inside and outside the building.
• Garofalo Center for Research, Design & Innovation (RD&I) in Bayport: Supporting every step in designing, developing, and testing our industry-leading window and door products.
• Renewal by Andersen facility in Cottage Grove: Powering the assembly of more than 1 million Acclaim® windows and Ensemble® entry doors.
• Bayport’s southern manufacturing facilities (13S and 14S): Powering the assembly of over 100,000 Woodwright®, Flexiframe®, and 400 Series gliding windows.
• Andersen’s Bayport Data Center: Powering all of the Data Center's 404 servers — which are critical to many of Andersen's facilities and applications — and enabling the Data Center’s 740 terabytes (TB) of data storage capacity, equivalent to over 400 million smartphone pictures.
• Employee electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at Andersen facilities in Minnesota. For example, supplying over 1,500 charging sessions for employees’ EVs at the CAO alone.

In total, over 18% of Andersen’s entire company-wide electricity usage now comes from the wind and solar resources of the Renewable*Connect program.

By powering these locations and operations with renewable sources, we actively reduce our environmental impact. The math is simple but impactful. In the last 12 months, this initiative has avoided 8,154 metric tons of CO2 emissions. To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of removing over 1,900 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the road for a year.

Xcel Energy’s Renewable*Connect program allows businesses like ours to use renewable electricity, even when on-site wind or solar solutions aren’t feasible. Renewable*Connect subscribers like Andersen can claim that they are powered by 100% renewable electricity* based on industry-accepted renewable electricity accounting practices (called “Renewable Energy Certificates” or RECs) that avoid double-counting and duplicate claims.

Xcel Energy built new wind and solar resources in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa specifically for this program, and the electricity generated from those resources can be solely claimed by program subscribers like Andersen. Even though electricity flowing to our Minnesota buildings comes from the same electricity grid used by all Xcel Energy customers, and specific wind and solar resources aren't physically connected to our buildings, the relationship of Andersen (and other subscribing companies) with Xcel Energy’s Renewable*Connect program directly resulted in more renewable resources on the grid that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

By subscribing to this program, Andersen joins a growing community of environmentally conscious companies leading the way in clean energy adoption.

"By enrolling in Xcel Energy's Renewable*Connect program, we are not only sourcing clean, renewable electricity and providing value to the business but are also embracing our role as responsible corporate citizens," said Steve Plachinski, Corporate Sustainability Team member and Manager of Energy Efficiency — a new role at Andersen created to further invest in efficient and clean energy initiatives. "Collaborating with Xcel Energy in this way is a key step in our commitment to both creating a more sustainable future and growing our business."

Renewable energy is just one part of Andersen's long-standing commitment to sustainability through energy management in our operations. The company has a long history of energy efficiency and conservation in our facilities, from more efficient dust collection and compressed air systems to improved manufacturing equipment and climate control systems. For example, our Bayport manufacturing plant's multi-year LED lighting initiative (completed in 2023) alone reduced CO2 emissions by about 1,300 metric tons annually, equivalent to removing over 300 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the road for a year.

At Andersen, we strive to lead by example. Our vision, mission and values are deeply intertwined with our responsibility to minimize environmental impact. We’re proud to take this definitive step toward cleaner energy, and we hope to inspire others to make similar commitments.

^{*Renewable energy certificates (RECs) sourced from Xcel Energy’s Renewable*Connect program comprised of energy from wind and solar sources.}

Posted: December 3, 2025