Minnesota has a state Office of Energy Security, and its director, Bill Glahn, is traveling around the state to see how local communities can promote renewable energy.

Speaking in Red Wing this week, said it'll be up to the locals to make this work, according to the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

"The solution to all this is not going to come from Washington. It's not going to come from St. Paul," Glahn said.

Glahn said he's traveling the state to find out what communities are doing, and bringing them up to speed on what's out there.

The Office of Energy Security was created in 2008 as part of the Commerce Department to "give the public easier access to energy information and technical assistance."

"The technology is there for clean energy," Glahn said. "It's a matter of getting it developed and commercialized."

He told the Red Wing group that stimulus dollars and other federal and state programs can help, but obtaining financing is tough.

"It's a scavenger hunt to put money together," he said.

The paper said Red Wing resident Bill McLaughlin attended the meeting and liked hearing about renewable energy sources — from wind and solar power to different types of biomass technologies.

"But, he added, people shouldn't expect these alternative energy sources to simply replace petroleum.

"Part of what I'm concerned about is the conservation side," McLaughlin said. In addition to looking for renewable energy sources, people should reduce how much they consume, he said."