When I applied to the Capitol Pathways Program, I was looking for an opportunity to experience public policy and learn if it was a good career choice for me. I was given the opportunity to select a specific sector in the application process; I chose sustainability and environmental issues as a top choice. Capitol Pathways program organizers matched me with the Great Plains Institute and I was excited to begin my journey in this inaugural program. Continue reading »
In April 2016, the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs released a report, Transmission Planning and CapX2020; Building Trust to Build Regional Transmission¹, detailing the monumental effort a coalition of eleven Midwestern utilities² undertook from 2004-2012 to design, site, and build 800 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines worth over $2 billion across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The CapX2020 project was as much a feat in cooperation and coordination as it was in transmission capacity expansion. Continue reading »
The Great Plains Institute is working with communities across the Midwest to develop local solar resources and capture the economic and environmental value of solar energy. Continue reading »
MINNEAPOLIS – Ulteig President and CEO Douglas Jaeger has joined the Great Plains Institute (GPI) board of directors. Continue reading »
In September of 2015, the Great Plains Institute invited 40 energy thought leaders and innovators to participate in a novel gathering to crowdsource their collective wisdom on the arc of the energy system over the next 5 to 20 years. To describe this gathering, we borrowed the term “Collaboratory,” which means “collaborative laboratory.” Think of it as an incubator for creativity and bold ideas among smart people who don’t often get together. Continue reading »
There is a growing, global momentum among businesses, communities, states, and nations toward an economically and environmentally sustainable energy system.
To achieve such a system will require harnessing the speed and innovation that only the market, bound by the right policy framework, can deliver. And that will require fresh thinking: enter, the Collaboratory. Continue reading »
In a year of divided government and low expectations for achieving big policy wins in Minnesota, we have the opportunity to move forward with a piece of energy policy that is broadly supported. Drive Electric Minnesota is advocating for a policy (SF 2405/HF3513) that would enable the state’s largest regulated utilities to begin planning for the arrival of mass-market electric vehicles. Continue reading »
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2016 — Technological innovation will be critical in meeting the goal the world’s nations set out in the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. The world derives 80 percent of its energy from coal, oil, and natural gas. Global use of fossil fuels is expected to continue for decades to come, even with the dramatic changes in energy production anticipated under the Paris Agreement. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology can capture and safely store CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial facilities. In fact, the United Nations IPCC and International Energy Agency have concluded that CCUS is likely essential to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. Continue reading »
As an organization whose tagline is “Better Energy, Better World,” we’re excited this Earth Day to share with you the progress we’re making together with our partners from the local to the national level. Continue reading »
