Along the south shore of Lake Superior lies Bayfield County, which is home to Wisconsin’s northernmost towns. Over the last several years, the county has been working to improve its energy reliability and resilience. GPI recently had the opportunity to help the county develop informational resources on its efforts and provide technical assistance on tax credits. Continue reading »
As we close out the year, we’re taking a look at the most-read stories on our blog. In GPI’s top ten stories of 2023, you can see the issues people were most interested in understanding and reading about across our portfolio of work. Continue reading »
The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced a historic investment in our nation’s electric grid, with $3.46 billion for projects across the US to “strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability.” The announcement included $464 million to fund a proposal jointly developed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Great Plains Institute, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) for DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The project will spur the development of zero-carbon electricity generation across several states by supporting essential transmission infrastructure. Continue reading »
Find out what made our list of most-read stories in 2022, which includes posts we’ve published over the last year and a half. Continue reading »
The US power grid faces a perfect storm—aging, underfunded infrastructure, extreme weather fueled by climate change, and a changing electricity generation portfolio. Experts warned earlier this year that huge regions of the US could have shortfalls in the power supply during times of high demand, which could lead to rolling blackouts. While blackouts haven’t occurred thus far, the system remains vulnerable to extreme weather events. Continue reading »
GPI Electric Vehicle Policy Specialist Moaz Uddin recently answered WCCO 4 News’s question, “Does getting an electric vehicle make financial sense?” Part of the CBS station’s “Good Question” series, the show helped answer this common question for people looking at electric vehicles in the face of high gas prices. Uddin breaks down the numbers for how electric vehicles can save consumers money over time. Continue reading »
The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced two awardees for managing an expansion of the SolSmart program over five years to “increase solar deployment and expand access to clean energy.” The $10 million dollar award is shared by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the International City/County Management Association. Continue reading »
Abby Finis has been a recognized leader in local climate action and renewable energy development in the Midwest. In her recent years at GPI, she worked with cities like Saint Paul, Duluth, and Red Wing in Minnesota and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to develop local climate action plans. And she’s developed an innovative approach that focuses on near-term action through Climate Action Work Plans. Continue reading »
GPI will lead a new pilot project supported by General Motors’ Climate Equity Fund to help communities in Michigan and Ohio with making progress on equitable vehicle electrification. Continue reading »
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will create major opportunities across the economy for investment in a wide range of energy, sustainability, and climate projects. I recently interviewed Abby Finis, senior program manager for GPI’s Communities Program, about lessons learned from how federal energy and climate funding was spent at the local level during the 2009 stimulus bill. Finis discusses what is different a decade later in terms of local government expertise and leadership on energy and climate solutions, and how that could be leveraged in the new infrastructure funding. Continue reading »
