I am excited to welcome Jenna Greene to GPI’s Communities Program. Jenna joins us as a program assistant working on GPI’s efforts to expand solar deployment, increase energy efficiency and solar deployment opportunities for small businesses, and support community energy and climate planning. Continue reading »
We are thrilled to welcome Jordana Palmer to GPI’s Electricity Program. Jordana joins us as a program assistant working to support our convenings around utility business model and regulatory innovation, as well as efforts to better engage small businesses in demand side energy programs. Continue reading »
Tracking greenhouse gas emissions, understanding where emissions come from, and determining strategies to reduce them are all relatively new concepts for cities. Continue reading »
We are fortunate to serve as a Minnesota GreenCorps host site for another year and to welcome Joe Cella, who is now serving as GPI’s GreenCorps member. Continue reading »
GreenStep Cities hosted a workshop on Climate Smart Municipalities with presenters from both Minnesota and Germany. For the past three years, five Minnesota GreenStep Cities communities have partnered with five communities from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to advance climate action. At this October workshop, presenters discussed this partnership and innovative electric vehicle practices in both states. Continue reading »
In September 2018, award-winning former WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby and Minnesota Public Radio’s Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner were the featured speakers at a private event in support of the Great Plains Institute (GPI). The September 26 fundraiser was held at the home of GPI board member Amy Skoczlas Cole and her husband Jason Cole in Deephaven, Minnesota and brought together friends and colleagues to learn more about how GPI is transforming the energy system to benefit the economy and environment. Continue reading »
There’s growing global recognition that technologies which capture carbon, and in some cases remove it from the atmosphere, will be vital to achieving a decarbonized economy. There is also increasing interest in these technologies given their potential economic value since carbon can be used to develop products through beneficial use or conversion. Continue reading »
The Great Plains Institute recently released A Road Map to Decarbonization in the Midcontinent Electricity Sector as part of its work with the Midcontinent Power Sector Collaborative, a diverse group of stakeholders including investor-owned utilities, merchant power companies, electric cooperatives, environmental groups, and state regulators.
The road map is the first-of-its-kind for any region in the US and was developed by the collaborative to provide utilities, policy makers, and stakeholders with a better sense of what will be needed to inform sound near-term decisions that position the region to meet the challenges ahead.
Twenty-eight cities across Minnesota are looking to the future and getting ready for broad adoption of electric vehicles.
Cities Charging Ahead! is a peer cohort of 28 cities working together across Minnesota to explore electric vehicle readiness. Participants receive technical assistance focused on actions and best practices, based on the GreenStep Cities program, that cities can implement to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles such as: Continue reading »
The e21 Initiative has not only provided valuable leadership in shaping a 21st century electric system in Minnesota, it’s created opportunities for utilities in the Midwest and both US coasts to learn from the process. Continue reading »
