As Minnesota moves from centralized coal plants to cleaner distributed energy resources like wind and solar, the flow of electricity on the grid is no longer going in just one direction. We need to modernize the rules that govern our electric system to ensure new clean energy can come online.
Programs
Into the weeds on rural wind, solar fees
For several years, rural Minnesota families and businesses have been dealing with uncertainty surrounding their solar and wind investments. Now, after years of discussion, the Public Utilities Commission is set to make a decision on fees charged by electric cooperatives by the end of 2017.
Hosting capacity: how a more transparent grid can clean things up
Fresh Energy is working to simplify the way small systems connect to the grid by first making the whole process a lot more transparent.
Solar sites serve up the Tesla of honey
Solar is blooming in Minnesota—and as ground-mounted solar sites spring up around the state, most include an important feature: pollinator habitat. Beekeepers are jumping on the opportunity.
Fresh Energy’s 25 years of progress on energy efficiency
When Fresh Energy was founded energy conservation was sort of a folksy thing that people taught their kids. Now, Minnesota is a leader on energy efficiency thanks to the energy savings and spending requirements included in the nation-leading 2007 Next Generation Energy Act. As the grid continues to get cleaner and cleaner, Fresh Energy’s efficiency work is shifting from focusing purely on energy savings and more on energy performance.
Time of use electricity pricing: good for bringing even more wind online
In a previous post, we argued time-of-use pricing will boost wind development by increasing demand for electricity during times of high wind generation. In this post, we walk through a simplified electricity market to show how this works.