Welcome to the new e21 Website

We’re excited to announce that the e21 Initiative has finally been given the website it has long deserved!

Beginning in 2014, the Great Plains Institute and Center for Energy and Environment launched e21 to provide a collaborative forum outside of the formal regulatory process for responding effectively to profound changes happening in the electric industry, and to provide regulators and other decision makers with recommendations on how Minnesota’s regulatory framework, and the existing utility business model, might evolve to continue to protect and promote the public interest.

From its outset, e21 has been driven and defined by the dedicated stakeholders who have participated in countless convenings, working together to define what a 21st century energy system that serves the needs of everyone would look like. Now in its third and final phase, e21 is bringing stakeholders together to learn about innovative pilot projects and activities in Minnesota and beyond, support stakeholder engagement in those projects, and shorten the distance between good ideas and implementation towards a 21st century electric system.

We hope this website will document the hard work of many while continuing to support the stakeholder engagement that is needed to put ideas to action. There’s great work happening in Minnesota on grid modernization, regulatory evolution, and utility business model innovation. We want to highlight what’s happening here, and in the process, provide a one-stop portal for anyone (anywhere) to follow e21 and related work.

We also hope that this new site will support our top-line goals of e21’s third and final phase, which are to improve mutual understanding, awareness, and collaboration among Minnesota’s energy community, and contribute to successful regulatory filings that implement key e21 concepts and recommendations.

Please check out the site! Here’s what you can find on e21initiative.org:

• About e21: The basics on why e21 started and who our leaders are
• Progress: A brief history of e21’s three phases and a listing of current stakeholder engagement activities
• Method: A description of the core framework used to develop the vision described in the Phase I and II whitepapers
• Resources: A place to access e21 publications and filings, including the Phase I and II whitepapers
• News: All of the latest news on e21 and related developments in Minnesota and beyond
• Forums: Free, public events intended to raise understanding and awareness on emerging issues toward a 21st century electric system

We’ll be adding more information on current and upcoming projects as we work with Minnesota’s strong community of stakeholders to advance an energy system that meets the needs of the 21st century. We hope you’ll check out the new site, sign up for our newsletter to stay in touch (just scroll down), and continue to see Minnesota as a standout example among states working on our toughest energy challenges.

Authors: Rolf Nordstrom and Mike Bull, e21 Co-Directors