Midwest Energy News: In MN, Utilities & Regulators Plan for Grid of the Future

Article highlights the e21 Initiative as one of several key efforts moving Minnesota toward a modernized electric grid.

From Midwest Energy News

…Utility Dive pointed to Minnesota as one of five leading states for grid modernization, citing both the commission’s work and that of a coalition of stakeholders known as the e21 Initiative…

… The need for modernization is in part a function of more renewable energy going online and customer demand for more transparency and a choice of how their energy is produced. Advanced electric meters offer a plethora of user data that could inform and shape a different sort of grid that works more efficiently, especially during times of high demand …

… Importantly, Minnesota has no “crisis” on its grid … said Jenny Edwards of the Center for Energy and Environment and a participant in the modernization project. If anything, the effort is as much about “the utility of the future as it is about the customer of the future.” Armed with more information that comes from smart meters, customers may shift activities to times of less stress on the grid, she said, moves that could help utilities avoid large infrastructure programs … With more distribution side planning — of the sort that hasn’t been a priority in the past — the grid could become more flexible. “Rather than demand side be tacit we’re starting to see it as an active resource where there’s a solution beyond building more power plants” …

Read the full article at Midwest Energy News