Great Plains Institute For Sustainable Development

Programs: Fossil fuels and climatesupporting carbon capture and storageexpanded a national industry, labor, and environmental coalition and built bipartisan congressional support to extend the current federal tax credit incentive for carbon capture and storage and increase its value for each ton of co2 that is captured from power plants and industrial facilities and stored through enhanced oil recovery or other geologic storage. U. S. House and senate bills to fix this tax credit have strong bipartisan in each chamber. Began work on biogenic carbon capture and removal. (continued on schedule o)supporting deployment of carbon capture and storage with enhanced oil recovery: facilitated by gpi, governors matt mead (r-wy) and steve bullock (d-mt) jointly convened the state co2-eor deployment work group to conduct analysis and make recommendations to state and federal policymakers. The work group released a comprehensive set of federal and state policy recommendations in december 2016 - putting the puzzle together: state & federal policy drivers for growing america's carbon capture & co2-eor industry; a white paper outlining recommendations for national co2 pipeline infrastructure in february 2017 - 21st century energy infrastructure: policy recommendations for development of american co2 pipeline networks; and a report recommending policies to enable power plants with carbon capture to compete cost-effectively in wholesale power markets entitled electricity market design and carbon capture technology: the opportunities and the challenges in june 2017. Biogenic carbon capture and removal: launched a national initiative to move towards large-scale commercial carbon capture with bioenergy production in order to facilitate removal of co2 from the atmosphere. This multi-pronged strategy began in 2017 with the engagement of the ethanol industry, which has a near-term opportunity to capture and store biogenic carbon with moderate reforms in existing policies such as the 45q tax credit and state low carbon fuel standard policies. Organized two significant meetings with ethanol industry stakeholders (in des moines and wichita), partnered with the kansas geological survey to model the costs of moving carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to possible carbon storage sites, focusing initially on kansas and texas, and wrote a whitepaper which was released by the state co2-eor deployment work group laying out a national strategy for ethanol carbon capture. Gpi will build on this foundation to engage more broadly with agriculture and forestry to identify ways that these sectors can benefit economically from carbon dioxide removal. Carbonsafe: gpi partnered with the kansas geological society on a major national doe-funded carbon capture and storage project. Gpi researched legal and regulatory hurdles to increased carbon capture and storage, researched the economics of building co2 pipelines, and engaged stakeholders in kansas and elsewhere.

electric grid, regional & international collaboratione21 initiative: the e21 initiative has transitioned to phase 3, which encompasses two major strategies: continued education of key constituencies on issues impacting minnesota's future electricity delivery system; and vetting of proposals by utilities and other stakeholders before they go to the minnesota public utility commission. With respect to the education component, gpi (in conjunction with center for energy and the environment) put together and convened a series of forums during 2017, on issues including performance-based utility compensation, time of use electric rates, and others. (continued on schedule o)the forums were well-attended by a variety of stakeholders and will continue in 2018. With respect to the proposal vetting, while not under the auspices of e21, the time of use and demand response projects below incorporate the principles set out in the e21 phase 3 work plan. Performance-based compensation (pbc) in minnesota: as part of e21's ongoing educational role, gpi and cee brought in seventhwave and lawrence berkeley national laboratories to develop a model that can be utilized to determine the benefit and cost of various performance-based compensation scenarios for xcel energy (or other utilities) and their customers. A technical work group has been formed to help seventhwave and lbnl determine which assumptions and variables to include in their model. In addition, a stakeholder group has been formed and has already met, guiding the overall effort. This work will continue in 2018, with the goal of providing useful data to the commission, utilities, and other stakeholders as the puc proceeds with its performance metrics docket. Time of use rates in minnesota: xcel energy sought to introduce a time of use (tou) rate pilot. Prior to submitting their proposal to the minnesota puc, gpi and cee put together a stakeholder group to delve into a proposed tou pilot, bringing in experts to discuss options, and developing a list of desirable features for any such pilot. Xcel energy used the recommendations of this work group and incorporated the group's recommendations into their proposed pilot, which is now before the minnesota public utilities commission. Demand response in minnesota: the minnesota puc has indicated to xcel energy that they need to develop a plan to greatly enhance the amount of demand response (dr) that is part of their energy portfolio. In the same manner as with tou rates, xcel has asked gpi and cee to work with stakeholders to help both better understand the issues surrounding dr in minnesota, as well as to make recommendations to xcel as to how they can proceed. This group has already met and will continue in 2018. Utility reform efforts in rhode island and other states: in addition to working with minnesota on utility business model issues, gpi has been engaged with a number of other states. Most notable is rhode island, where gpi teamed with the regulatory assistance project (rap) to assist rhode island officials with their power sector transformation initiative. Power sector transformation is a major effort to identify potential changes to the electricity delivery system in rhode island, and made in-depth recommendations with respect to performance-based compensation, grid modernization, electric vehicles and other beneficial electrification, and advanced metering. Gpi helped to bring in experts to discuss these issues, as well as provided expertise and analysis as the recommendations were developed. A report on the recommendations was given to the rhode island governor in november 2017. Also provided expertise/analysis to a number of other states who are looking at changes to their electricity delivery systems, in addition to our work with rhode island. Provided assistance to the nextgrid in illinois, power forward in ohio, as well as efforts in washington state and oregon. Exploring low-carbon pathways in the midcontinent, pjm, and spp electricity markets: convened the midcontinent power sector collaborative (mpsc), which brings together power companies-investor-owned utilities, generation and transmission cooperatives, merchant generators, and a municipal joint action agency-together with environmental organizations and state environmental and utility regulators. The mpsc is modeling and developing a first-ever regional mid-century decarbonization roadmap with policy recommendations to states, the midcontinent independent system operator (miso), and federal agencies and congress. Co-facilitated the states-led midcontinent states environmental and energy regulators and pjm states energy & environmental regulators groups, which include energy and environment state officials in both the miso and pjm footprints. Facilitated the plains state energy project (psep) that brings together state environmental and energy regulators from the service territory of the southwest power pool (spp) to evaluate their states' energy options. Launched the minnesota solar pathways project: the project, led by the minnesota department of commerce and funded by a $2 million award from the u. S. Department of energy sunshot initiative, combines a stakeholder collaboration process with technical analysis to support minnesota's deployment of solar electricity. The state goal of 10 percent solar by 2030 will take minnesota from 35 megawatts of solar capacity at the end of 2015 to as much as six gigawatts by 2030. Gpi helped to develop the project and is leading the stakeholder engagement portion of the initiative. Decarbonizing the midcontinent electric grid: continued the success of gpi's electric grid project in steering the development of planning assumptions for the midcontinent transmission grid through 2033. The midcontinent independent system operator (miso) carries out an annual transmission planning process built on assumptions around what generation sources will be on the grid fifteen years in the future. The transmission grid is then planned to enable those futures to become reality. Gpi helped ensure that miso's grid is being planned to enable up to 30% decarbonization over the planning horizon. We helped initiate miso's energy storage task force, which aims to facilitate the creation of market and planning rules for energy storage in the midcontinent. Along with our work in demand response, our efforts here will bring more flexible resources onto the grid, thus enabling more renewable generation to be integrated into the grid reliably.

energy efficiency and sustainable communitiessupported dozens of communities in minnesota through a range of programs to incorporate clean energy and climate in their plans and to design and implement local energy initiatives. For example, gpi is a partner in the statewide minnesota greenstep cities (gsc) program, a voluntary challenge, assistance, and recognition program that supports sustainability efforts in 118 cities and three tribal nations, more than 43% of the state's population. (continued on schedule o)industrial energy efficiency and combined heat and power (chp): continued to uncover policy barriers and make regulatory improvements removing obstacles and incentivize industrial energy efficiency. Worked with partner organizations to intervene in six dockets where we critiqued each utility's standby tariff's deficiencies under "best practices" for standby tariffs and purpa requirements for non-discriminatory tariffs. Additionally, with the cooperation of partners, gpi provided input to the michigan public service commission (mpsc)'s standby rate docket and standby rate working group (srwg) as well as minnesota's public utilities commission (puc)'s performance metrics docket to advocate for efficiencies and supply-side benefits provided by distributed generation sources such as chp. Small business energy efficiency: partnered with the lake street council and the st. Paul area chamber of commerce to continue developing a model for effectively connecting small businesses with utility energy efficiency programs using trusted energy coaches, resulting in energy assessments in 83 businesses and completed retrofits in more than 19 mostly minority-owned businesses. Governmental solar garden subscriber collaborative: published a report on a joint solar garden procurement program that brought together 31 local governments to procure solar garden subscriptions from a single request for proposals (rfp) process to offset the energy usage at public facilities, resulting in 25 local governments signing subscription agreements for a cumulative 33 mw of solar capacity, almost doubling the amount of solar generation in the state at the time. The joint effort won the 2017 environmental initiative community action award. Local and regional solar market transformation initiatives: provided direct assistance to over 40 local governments in minnesota, iowa, illinois, and wisconsin, to become "shovel-ready" for solar investment and development. Published local government solar toolkits in four states, receiving the 2017 "innovation in planning" award from the mn american planning association. Helped secure a solar advisor at the metropolitan council who, with gpi's assistance, supports 188 communities in setting solar energy comprehensive plan goals. Helped place solar advisors in illinois, minnesota, and iowa. Managed a cohort of 10 minnesota and iowa communities to become solsmart certified, including three at the gold certification. Metro cert: provided technical assistance on clean energy project development to local governments and community leaders. For example, supported a five-city energy initiative in chisago county helping them to bring energy efficiency programs to residents and small businesses. Supported 27 cities with resources on clean energy projects and energy planning. Partnered with minnesota utilities on downtown business efficiency "blitzes and connected cities with retired engineers who assisted with public building assessments. Greenstep cities: led the development and launch of a tool to assist cities in tracking environmental and sustainability metrics and piloted the tool with six cities. These six minnesota cities reported improved public building efficiency, increasing percentages of led streetlights, growing fleets of electric vehicles and community charging stations, renewable energy generation and more. Minnesota local government energy planning: assisted minnesota local governments to commit to actionable strategies for energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions by developing planning tools including: a model comprehensive plan rfp; an energy planning guide and workbook for use in the met council's 2040 comprehensive planning process; existing energy condition reports; and mapping of local solar resources. Assisted other project partners to develop and test an innovative "wedge analysis" planning tool. Tested the tool with five pilot communities and developed and launched an initiative to assist at least 40 local governments to include clean energy or climate goals in their new comprehensive plans. Completed a resilience plan for the city of golden valley, a climate action plan that gets the city of saint louis park to be carbon neutral by 2040, and initiated an energy plan for washington county.

bioenergy and transportation decarbonizing transportation through vehicle electrification: expanded gpi's work to accelerate the electrification of transportation. Through its facilitation of drive electric minnesota, gpi has laid out a vision for a network of fast charging corridors throughout the state; is working to leverage state funding to pay for these corridors; and is building broader support throughout non-metro areas of the state. Gpi also launched a regional collaborative to engage utility and ev stakeholders to provide guidance on utility ev programs in order to accelerate ev infrastructure and adoption throughout the region. Achieving water quality and economic benefits through advanced bioenergy feedstocks: after securing funding from the minnesota legislature for a feasibility study and implementation plan for a program to incent agricultural producers to establish and maintain perennial crops that can be harvested and used as a feedstock for bioenergy production, gpi played an active role is influencing the development of the study, led by the state board of water and soil resources. This market-based approach has the potential to reduce emissions and create new economic opportunities for minnesota communities, while also helping improve water quality in targeted watersheds. Gpi will play an active role going forward to help secure resources for innovative new cropping systems including so-called "cash cover crops like pennycress and camelina that can store carbon in soils and improve water quality while providing feedstocks for aviation biofuels without competing for existing agricultural land. Minnesota bioeconomy commercialization consortium. Launched the new bioeconomy commercialization consortium to expand research and development efforts in the state to commercialize critical new bioeconomy technologies. Initial efforts will focus on producing value-added energy and products from organic waste, value-added opportunities for wood, and aviation biofuels from cover crops and thermochemical conversation of biomass. Additional accomplishments charity navigator award: earned a four-star rating from charity navigator, the leading charity evaluator in america, for the third consecutive year. This award demonstrates gpi's strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency and places gpi in the top tier of nonprofits in the country. Energy innovation celebration: held the third annual celebration, bringing together over 100 energy thought leaders, entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profits, and government professionals elevate game-changing, innovative ideas in energy and connect the people and organizations driving progress and shaping our energy future. This year's event focused on energy and climate "solutions from the ground up. " u. S. Department of energy, electricity advisory committee: rolf nordstrom, gpi's president & ceo, was appointed to serve on the u. S. Department of energy's electric advisory committee, a federal advisory committee to the u. S. Secretary of energy. U. S. Department of energy, national coal council: brad crabtree, gpi's vice president, fossil energy, served in an advisory role on the u. S. Department of energy's national coal council, a federal advisory committee to the u. S. Secretary of energy.