Webinar: Distributed solutions to large load growth 

Electricity demand is growing in Minnesota and across the country. Much of this growth is coming from large electricity users such as hyperscale data centers, electrified industrial processes, and beyond. It is crucial that these new electricity needs be met with clean energy solutions — not with new fossil generation.

Join us on Monday, March 23 at 12 p.m. Central for a conversation about how distributed energy solutions can help meet growing electricity demand while also creating opportunities to strengthen workforce and supplier diversity.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) — like networked batteries — can provide flexible, clean solutions to serve large electricity users. These technologies can help maximize the value of our existing grid while reducing the need for new fossil fuel infrastructure. They can help bring clean energy online quickly to meet new demand without putting excess upward pressure on electricity rates. Minnesota has already begun to explore how distributed energy resources could help meet growing electricity demand. Xcel Energy’s proposed Capacity*Connect program — currently pending regulatory review — is one effort to explore how these resources could help address load growth.

But technology is only a part of the solution. As Minnesota builds the infrastructure needed to serve large electricity customers, we must ensure that workforce and supplier diversity are intentionally built into these projects from the start. Expanding opportunities for local and diverse workers and suppliers strengthens local economies. By pairing clean energy solutions with intentional workforce and supplier diversity strategies, Minnesota can support both its clean energy and long-term economic goals.

Guests:

Tim Hade, Air Force veteran and Co-Founder, Scale Microgrids
Will Mulhern, Director, Electricity, Fresh Energy
Mark Sebree, President, Sebree Consulting

Moderator:
Shubha Harris, Chief Equity Policy Officer, Fresh Energy