Overview
Held on August 8th, 2024 at Holland & Knight offices in Chicago, 53 public and private industry leaders convened for the AEG Chicago 24Q3 Stakeholder Challenge on Grid Modernization. The purpose of this challenge was to: 1.) Agree on a critical obstacle to equitable grid modernization efforts in Chicago to meet climate, health, and energy goals; 2.) Align on a 90-day sprint and 12-month objective to best address this obstacle; and 3.) Enable stakeholders to volunteer as part of a Task Force to deliver the solution.
5 Key Themes
1. Workforce Training and Education: The successful implementation of grid modernization initiatives requires a skilled and prepared workforce. Industry leaders must align training programs with industry needs, including technical and personal skills, which are critical to meeting the demands of modern grid technologies and ensuring equity in job opportunities. Collaboration with City Colleges of Chicago provides an ideal opportunity to implement collaborative strategies today that would benefit deserving students from largely underserved communities throughout Chicago.
“Smart grid curricula ensure that the new generation of workers are qualified and have a sound understanding of industry realities and challenges.” - Dr. Steven Meneses, Director, Manufacturing Tech & Engineering, City Colleges of Chicago
2. Visualization and Alignment of Plans: Community, government, and utility plans must be visualized and aligned to promote transparent grid upgrades. This visualization is crucial for understanding how different plans influence each other, thereby facilitating better decision-making and fostering trust and alignment among stakeholders.
“‘Grid Mod’ plans are not always easily translated into local city and community development plans, and vice versa.” - Julieta Giraldez, Director, Integrated Grid Planning, Electric Power Engineers (EPE)
3. Collaboration and Coalition Building: Strong coalitions between public and private entities are vital for driving key initiatives in grid modernization. Collaboration promotes normalizing advanced solutions like solar/storage and mini-microgrids, which are essential for achieving equitable grid modernization.
“‘REC Plus’ Agreement balances objectives of Google & EDPR with bundled incentives across the state block to provide clean energy for data centers & to power 25K low-to- moderate income homes in surrounding areas.” - Erin Grossi, Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University
4. Reducing Barriers to Adoption: Addressing financial, informational, and technical barriers is necessary to make grid modernization accessible to all communities. This includes offering incentives, simplifying processes, and educating customers to encourage wider adoption of clean energy technologies and decarbonization efforts.
“Focusing on reducing the barriers for those customers already interested moves us closer to decarbonization despite the differing perspectives on long-term targets, goals and policies” - Kristol Whatley-Simms, VP, Clean Energy Trans., Economic, Community & BD, Ameren
5. Community Engagement and Trust Building: Engaging with communities to ensure their needs and priorities are reflected in grid modernization efforts is crucial. Building trust through transparent communication and involving affected community members in decision-making processes will lead to more equitable outcomes.
Speaker Challenge Summary
Each speaker provided an 8 minute and 5 slide presentation that concluded with this completed statement: “Regarding Grid Modernization, to achieve Chicagoland’s Climate, Health and Equity goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is __________.
Participants agreed to prioritize the above obstacles around the statement provided by Julieta Giraldez, Director of Integrated Grid Planning, EPE.
“Regarding grid modernization, to achieve Chicagoland’s climate, health and equity goals, a critical obstacle to collectively overcome in 12 months is: the lack of visualization of key community and utility energy and infrastructure related plans to better understand how they influence each other and create alignment on grid mod needs.
Next-Step Actions
20 leaders came together to form a Task Force to complete the above 90-day sprint and 12-month objective.
Other proposed 90-Day Sprints and 12-Month Objectives included:
Task Force Volunteers: Hilary Scott-Ogunrinde, State of Illinois, Josh Faris, ELM, Joe Marchese, Baker Tilly, Michael Rutkowski, Burns & McDonnell, Rob Kreger, Burns & McDonnell, Troy Jansen, Burns & McDonnell, Robyn Wheeler Grange, Argonne National Laboratory, Reneé Skeete, Argonne National Laboratory, Killian Tobin, Patrick Engineering, Sherelle Withers, Innovation Metropolis, Daniel Girard, APG, Will Kenworthy, Vote Solar, Jonathan Kleinman, Brillion, Christopher Townsend, CJT Energy Law, Jim Boguslawski, CAIC, Sarah Bortt, CELI, Erin Grossi, Northwestern University, John O'Donnell-Sloan, Northwestern University, Michael Thuis, Advanced Energy Group, Jakob Reinke, Advanced Energy Group
Conclusion
The AEG Chicago 24Q3 Stakeholder Challenge on grid modernization facilitated focused discussions and collaborative efforts, with participants identifying the critical need for visualizing and aligning community and utility energy plans. The challenge highlighted the importance of workforce training, coalition building, and reducing barriers to the adoption of clean energy technologies. The newly formed Task Force will commit to collaboration and community engagement to not only meet technical goals but also serve the broader needs of all Chicago communities. This collective approach will pave the way for a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable energy future for the region.
