Category: partners

Jun 09 2026 by David Breecker

MSL Joins Global FEW Alliance

Posted in energy access, energy poverty, Innovation, MSL news, partners, R&D, research, Uncategorized

MSL has joined and will be working to support the Global Food-Energy-Water Alliance. The FEW Alliance is an international coalition focused on place-based knowledge and contextual engineering to foster climate change adaptation solutions. MSL and its Energy Sovereignty Institute will work with the Alliance, its North American Hub, and the newly established Contextual Engineering Research Group to develop organizational infrastructure, and anchor an energy sovereignty practice. (more…)


Dec 09 2025 by David Breecker

Update: Long Duration Energy Storage Demonstration

Posted in Innovation, MSL news, partners, R&D, research, Uncategorized, workforce

Update as of May, 2026: The GridFlow LDES project described below has pivoted to an alternative flow battery chemistry: Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) are aqueous flow batteries where energy is stored in vanadium electrolytes in different oxidation states, physically separated from the cell stack that converts chemical energy to electricity. Their key value proposition is long-duration, durable energy storage (typically 4–12+ hours) with very high cycle life and no thermal runaway risk, making them attractive for grid-scale renewable integration, microgrids, and industrial backup. The technology is in commercial deployment, primarily in China, and the New Mexico demonstration project will validate and de-risk its commercial value proposition for New Mexico’s grid. Original post follows:

MSL organized and is coordinating a Long Duration Energy Storage Research and Demonstration Pilot Project focused on innovations in flow battery technology. The project team unites GridFlow (a startup commercializing a novel technology spun out of Sandia National Laboratories), Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC, the utility serving the demonstration site in El Rito, NM), and MSL. The project has been awarded approximately $1 million from an energy storage grant program. (more…)


Oct 31 2025 by David Breecker

MSL teams for Advanced Storage Architectures

Posted in Innovation, MSL news, partners, R&D, research, Uncategorized

MSL and researchers from  the University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories are collaborating on the development of a research project in Advanced Storage Architectures (ASA). This conceptual framework, developed by MSL, takes a holistic, systems innovation approach to optimizing the economic and operational deployment of energy storage throughout the grid. (more…)


Jun 05 2025 by David Breecker

MSL Teams for Project HOW: Community Resilience Hubs

Posted in energy access, Innovation, MSL news, partners, Uncategorized

MSL is collaborating with New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) for Project HOW, fostering clean and resilient energy deployments throughout IPL’s community. IPL works within a nationwide movement of communities of faith to respond to the existential crisis of climate change, which requires profound inner transformation and collective action.

In response to the climate challenge, Project HOW focuses on decarbonization and community resilience in congregations throughout New Mexico. (more…)


Apr 21 2025 by David Breecker

MSL Joins Santa Fe Institute Working Group

Posted in Innovation, MSL news, partners, R&D, research, Uncategorized

MSL President David Breecker joined an invitational working group at the Santa Fe Institute (SFI, a global leader in complexity science) on “Governance Institutions for a Polycentric and Technologically Complex Electric Power Grid” in April, 2025. This was an invaluable opportunity to further deepen and develop MSL’s Complex Adaptive Grid initiative with a cohort of 12 national cross-disciplinary experts, which expects to continue meeting to develop a research agenda and activities in the governance domain. (more…)


Dec 16 2024 by David Breecker

MSL Leads Africa Energy Workshop

Posted in energy access, energy poverty, Innovation, MSL news, partners, research, Uncategorized

MSL designed and led the inaugural Atlas AI and e-GUIDE Innovation Network (EGIN) stakeholder workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on December 5 and 6, 2024. This event built on the success of the 2022 Global Energy Access Innovation Workshop in Rwanda, also designed and led by MSL, which led to the concept and formation of EGIN. The Kenya workshop was highly successful in achieving its objectives, engaging a cross-sector group of energy leaders in East Africa, planning the next stage of e-GUIDE’s work, and accelerating innovation processes and capacity. (more…)


Nov 22 2024 by David Breecker

“Speaking of Solar”: Energy Access Video for the Navajo Nation

Posted in energy access, MSL news, partners, Uncategorized

We’re very pleased to announce the release of a video produced by MSL’s Energy Sovereignty Institute, in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology, Navajo Technical University, and the Navajo Tribal Utilities Authority with support from Sandia National Laboratories. The video translates fundamental concepts of solar home systems into the Navajo language. (more…)


Mar 26 2024 2Commentsby David Breecker

Energy Sovereignty Workshop a Great Success

Posted in energy access, energy poverty, MSL news, partners, research, Uncategorized, workforce

On March 12th and 13th, 2024 MSL and its partners at Navajo Technical University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Seattle University convened key stakeholders for an inaugural Energy Sovereignty Research Workshop.  Funded by the National Science Foundation (with additional support from the New America Foundation and Remy’s Good Day Fund), 32 participants representing academia, Tribal governments and agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, and energy sector organizations gathered at the Hyatt Tamaya at Santa Ana Pueblo for the event, designed to create a research agenda aimed at supporting clean energy transitions in Tribal Nations.

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Dec 12 2023 by David Breecker

MSL teams for Energy Sovereignty Research

Posted in energy access, energy poverty, MSL news, partners, research, Uncategorized, workforce

The National Science Foundation has awarded funding to MSL, Navajo Technical University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Seattle University for an energy sovereignty research workshop. This project will convene a diverse group of stakeholders from academia, Tribal governments and agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, and energy sector organizations for a two-day event, designed to create a research agenda aimed at supporting clean energy transitions in Tribal Nations, and education and workforce training needs to achieve ambitious Tribal aspirations. MSL Member Sandia National Laboratories’ Indian Energy program is also serving on the organizing committee. (more…)


Oct 23 2023 1Commentby David Breecker

DOE Funds Kit Carson Electric, MSL for 3 Microgrids

Posted in MSL news, partners, pilot projects, Uncategorized, workforce

MSL’s Resilient El Rito Project, Two Other Sites Funded for Construction by DOE

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC, an MSL consortium Member) to receive $23 million ($15.4 million in Federal funding and $7.7 million in Recipient cost share) to enhance the U.S. power grid’s ability to deliver affordable, clean energy to American communities across northern New Mexico. The funds will advance the Building a Modern, Intelligent Distributed BESS for Resiliency in Northern New Mexico project to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and wildfires, and strengthen grid reliability. (more…)