A green banner that reads “Shop with a conscience, we are now entirely powered by green energy” hangs off an awning on the corner of Davis Street and Chicago Avenue.
It touts a goal that has long been important to Pascal Berthoumieux, owner of Patisserie Coralie — one that was finally accomplished in May 2025. Because the cafe has no gas-run appliances, unlike most food establishments, Berthoumieux said he knew the business always had the opportunity to make the switch to green energy. Rising electricity rates and the expiration of Patisserie Coralie’s electricity contract, however, gave Berthoumieux the final push to move forward with the change.
Berthoumieux said the transition wasn’t for practicality, as switching to green energy comes with about a 10% increase in spending. But it was a cost Berthoumieux thought the cafe could take on.
“If you can make it work financially, then that remains a dream,” he said.
Berthoumieux said his current electricity contract, arranged through a broker, will last for two years before going up for renewal. He does not anticipate going back to non-renewable energy once it expires, now seeing sustainability as part of Patisserie Coralie’s identity.
He said he has always been conscious about sustainability and knows it is something his customers care about as well.
“I don’t think people are going to shop with me just because it’s powered by green energy,” Berthoumieux said. “It’s going to take a little bit more than that, but it’s an added argument.”
A team effort
As the city continues to push sustainability initiatives, including the Climate Action and Resilience Plan and Healthy Buildings Ordinance, Evanston businesses like Patisserie Coralie have begun switching to more sustainable forms of electricity for both personal reasons and to align with city objectives.
The city adopted CARP in 2018, setting three main goals: carbon neutrality by 2050, zero waste by 2050 and 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
Two programs, the 2025 HBO and the Community Choice Electricity Aggregation program, help move the city toward those goals. The HBO helps buildings over 20,000 square feet reduce emissions to comply with the goals outlined by CARP. The city’s aggregation program works on a smaller scale, helping residential and commercial retail electrical accounts connect with renewable energy suppliers.
“We know that (CARP) is not something, like a reasonable expectation, to just say ‘You have to do this,’ and not offer any support,” said Kirsten Drehobl Vega, the city’s sustainability and resilience coordinator.
Sustain Evanston, a grant program that supports local small businesses, aims to help by funding efforts in composting, recycling, renewable energy and similar programs. However, with a limited budget this fiscal year, the city will prioritize funding businesses covered by the HBO.
Drehobl Vega said many businesses are interested in becoming more sustainable, but actually making change depends on their funding and knowledge to do so. She said every building is also unique in terms of its feasibility to switch to all-electric energy.
“There’s just so many factors that go into how to make your clean energy transition, and that’s really what we’re trying to figure out right now on an individual building level and at citywide level,” she said.
The city is not the only organization working toward energy efficiency and decarbonization.
Climate Action Evanston, a volunteer-based nonprofit that works to help local residents and organizations meet the city’s climate goals, has been encouraging residents to enroll in the program Community Solar. Community Solar allows individuals to purchase a portion of renewable energy generated from solar gardens and, in turn, receive credits on their electric bills. According to Illinois’ Citizens Utility Board, this makes solar accessible for people who cannot install solar panels.
“When people living in Evanston, Wilmette, Chicago — doesn’t matter, anywhere in the ComEd service area — sign up with one of these suppliers, they’re increasing the green capacity or the clean capacity of the overall electricity grid, thereby reducing the emissions in the power sector,” said T. Manning, Climate Action Evanston’s education and outreach coordinator.
Around the town
Like Patisserie Coralie, other businesses in Evanston have taken steps toward sustainability independent of city initiatives.
Beth Emet The Free Synagogue has been using Community Solar since 2024, according to Chris Wynn, a temple employee. Wynn is a team member of the temple’s Dayenu Circle, a chapter of a Jewish community group focused on climate action.
She had used Community Solar for three years in her own home before presenting it to the temple as a solution to its high electricity bill.
With energy generated from three solar farms, the temple has experienced up to 17.5% savings on its total electricity bill. Wynn, who tracks the temple’s electricity usage and savings in a massive spreadsheet, said electricity bills and solar savings can be complicated to understand, which is why she thinks many people are afraid to make the switch.
“There’s something about this process that people just don’t seem that interested in jumping on,” she said.
Beth Emet is planning to partner with Climate Action Evanston to reduce the temple’s kWh and, in turn, energy expenditures, Wynn said. Manning will run an energy audit to help the temple identify ways to save.
Other establishments are taking similar steps toward sustainability at the commercial level.
Button Bakery, located at 719 Main St., uses electric ovens instead of gas-powered ones. Sara Rathbun, co-owner with her husband Oran Rankin, said they chose electric equipment for two reasons when they opened the shop last spring: the benefit of the environment and the health of their employees.
Rathbun said electric ovens eliminate the risk of gas combustion in a small workspace. The city recommended efficient and environmentally-sound equipment, she said. Button Bakery also received a TIF grant, which helps fund revitalization in specific sectors of Evanston.
Like Berthoumieux, Sara Rathbun acknowledged the cost burden of green energy.
“Gas has been more economical than electric as an option, but we didn’t care about that,” she said. “We just wanted a better work environment and to be more environmental.”
Sara Rathbun said she can see how some small businesses may be tempted by gas equipment, which is slightly less expensive. However, thanks to her husband’s 30 years of experience in the bread-baking industry, the couple knew where to cut costs in order to stay profitable without having the cost of electric appliances as a concern.
While Sara Rathbun’s sustainable choices were influenced by care for her workers, a group she describes as her “internal customers,” Berthoumieux looked more outwardly.
“As a small business owner, I care about the socioeconomics of my community,” he said.
Berthoumieux sees a clear distinction between Patisserie Coralie and other large corporation coffee shops in the community, such as Starbucks and Paris Baguette. While these chains focus on “aggressive” business strategies, he said he wants his cafe to be the kind of business that does the right thing for the environment and local community.
Chris Lamas, chief operating officer of Windfree Solar, said he’s noticed the Evanston community’s care for sustainability and renewables, making it the perfect location for his company’s cafe, which he co-manages. Windfree Solar provides solar energy and panel installation to residential, commercial and municipal accounts.
The cafe, located at 517 Dempster St., launched in October and officially opened on March 4. It acts as a storefront for customers to come in and talk about solar energy. As a bonus, those who purchase solar panels from the company receive free coffee for life.
Windfree has about 50 installations in the Evanston area, according to company data. For those interested in green energy but aren’t ready to invest in solar panels, the company offers a leasing option for a minimum of 25 years and transferable between house owners, said Kathryn Heineman, manager of Windfree Solar Café.
To further benefit the community, Windfree also has a referral program. Qualifying referrals can generate donations to their local school or Let’s Play Too, a Chicago non-profit empowering girls to participate in baseball.
Lamas said the cafe aims to demystify going solar for community members, giving residents the opportunity to learn more face-to-face.
“It’s an easy process, and it’s just something that might seem like a big change on paper, but people don’t have to be intimidated on it,” he said.
Beyond energy
Berthoumieux said balancing environmental values with the realities of running a small business is tricky.
“Some things have to remain a dream or a long-term goal, but you have to live within your means when you are a small business,” he said.
On a busy day, Berthoumieux fills an entire dumpster with single-use plastic. He said he tries to recycle when he can, like with cardboard boxes. But, he believes there is a long way to go before the issue of single-use plastic is truly taken care of due to how prolific the material is.
For customers who choose to sit down with their beverage and baked goods, Patisserie Coralie uses ceramic dishware to limit consumption of disposable plastic.
“All these questions of how we are consuming, wasting, energy, all these things to me matter because as I business, I go through a lot of everything,” Berthoumieux said.
Sara Rathbun said that customers often have expectations that are challenging for businesses from an environmental perspective. Button Bakery intentionally limits its packaging options, such as a wax-coated bag in place of a plastic clamshell container, for those who want their goods to go. Such solutions are less of a cost for the bakery, take up less space and produce less packaging waste.
Windfree Solar Café is also aiming for a zero waste goal, Heineman said. All products, like silverware and cups, are compostable, and, like Patisserie Coralie, the cafe encourages customers who dine in to use real silverware.
A global perspective
Manning said that getting people to change their behavior is not easy, but awareness of renewable energy is growing, and he has started to see people take meaningful action.
“Any household, any business, large or small, that reduces its greenhouse gas emissions is working toward the community’s larger energy reduction or emissions reduction goals,” he said.
Such efforts give him hope that Evanston can decarbonize the building sector and lower greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the “cataclysmic consequences” of climate change.
Berthoumieux said he also sees the dangers of fossil fuels. He said that although the current administration does not, it’s reassuring to know that organizations at the state and private level are picking up environmental policies dropped by the government.
Manning does not want people to be discouraged by what is happening under the current administration. Decisions at a national level have “zero bearing” on the action a person can take within their own life, he said.
Whether households are switching to solar or local businesses are working to use less gas, every step toward green energy counts.
“It’s local action,” Manning said “But, obviously the framework or the perspective has to be global because it’s all one atmosphere and we all share the same planet.”
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