News

Nov 01 2022 by David Breecker

MSL, RIT, Navajo Tech Win Energy Sovereignty Grant

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

MSL, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Navajo Technical University have been awarded a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) program to further the partners’ work with Native American communities in the tribal energy sovereignty area. PIT-UN’s mission is to help advance the field of public interest technology to bring positive impact to communities around the globe. MSL’s Energy Sovereignty Institute (ESI) initiative will also participate. (more…)


Oct 06 2022 by David Breecker

MSL, NMSU, NREL Awarded DOE Research Grant

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

Update October 6, 2022: MSL, New Mexico State University, and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (an MSL Member) have been awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, for Building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships. The team’s proposal, “Building a federated learning framework for trustworthy and resilient energy internet of things (eIoT) infrastructure,” focuses on Federated Machine Learning (FML), and the research funded will approach several FML-related aspects of smart grid data architectures and applications. (more…)


Sep 02 2022 by David Breecker

UPDATE: MSL, RIT TEAM FOR GLOBAL ENERGY ACCESS WORKSHOP IN RWANDA

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

Update 8/27/22:  MSL’s Global Energy Access Innovation Workshop in Rwanda with the Rochester Institute of Technology was an unqualified success. Hosted as part of the IEEE PowerAfrica Conference, 25 thought and practice leaders from Asia, Africa, Alaska, Native America, and the Caribbean Islands convened for a two-day immersive innovation process designed and facilitated by MSL. The excitement was contagious, the feedback was exceptional, and the group unanimously committed to continued collaboration, on which we have begun work. (more…)


Aug 25 2022 by David Breecker

Update: Resilient El Rito project awarded engineering funds

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

Update 2/17/23: The Resilient El Rito community resilience microgrid demonstration project with Northern New Mexico College has awarded the engineering stage contract to Kit Carson Electric Coop. Work will begin presently, and we hope to move on to construction soon.

Update 8/25/22: The the NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Dept. (EMNRD) has recommended the Resilient El Rito project for engineering stage funding through its Grid Modernization program.  We expect this work could commence at the start of the new year, with Northern NM College as the primary recipient. In addition, EMNRD advises that they expect there will be federal funds available for the construction stage when we complete engineering, for which Kit Carson Electric Coop can compete. (more…)


Jun 01 2022 by David Breecker

MSL, RIT Team for Global Energy Access Workshop in Rwanda

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

MSL has partnered with the Rochester Institute of Technology to convene an Energy Access Innovation Workshop in August of 2022, to be held in conjunction with the IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. The workshop is designed to accelerate applied innovation in the energy access and equity domain, and to lay the foundation for a Global Energy Access Lab (GEAL) to meet the challenge of affordable, equitable, and clean energy access for 2 billion underserved people worldwide. (more…)


May 25 2022 by David Breecker

You’re invited! MSL produces 3rd Annual NM Energy Summit

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

MSL is once again producing the annual NM Distributed Energy Summit (virtual). Please join us on Zoom for this important event:

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May 03 2022 by David Breecker

MSL Wins International Award

Posted in Innovation, MSL news, Uncategorized

MSL proudly announces that it has won the Silver Award in the Smart Grid pillar of the 2022 Energy Smart Communities Initiative Best Practices Awards Program of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

The Energy Smart Communities Initiative (ESCI) was launched in November 2010 by the U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).  ESCI covers four main pillars—Smart Transport, Smart Buildings, Smart Grids, and Smart Jobs and Consumers—along with the cross-cutting examples of Low Carbon Model Towns. (more…)


Apr 13 2022 by David Breecker

MSL Teams with NMSU, NREL for DOE Proposal

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

MSL has teamed with New Mexico State University and The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (an MSL Member) for a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, for a Building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships grant. The team’s proposal, “Building a federated learning framework for trustworthy and resilient energy internet of things (eIoT) infrastructure,” focuses on Federated Machine Learning (FML). It was selected by DOE at the pre-proposal stage for full proposal submission, and it approaches several FML-related aspects of smart grid data architectures and applications.

(more…)


Feb 23 2022 by David Breecker

Energy Sovereignty Videos Available

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

We are pleased to share two short videos produced by MSL’s  Energy Sovereignty Institute for the Indian Energy community. The first, “Tribal Energy Sovereignty,” features interviews with a variety of experts on tribal energy and its relationship to tribal sovereignty, featuring: Joseph Kunkel (Northern Cheyenne), Co-Director of ESI and Director of the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab; Sherralyn Sneezer (Diné), PhD student at Rochester Institute of Technology; Stan Atcitty (Diné), Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories; and Tiana Suazo (Taos/Jemez Pueblo), Executive Director, Red Willow Center: (more…)


Feb 14 2022 by David Breecker

MSL Coordinates Industry Advisory Board

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

MSL is coordinating the newly-created Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the NM SMART Grid Center, of which MSL is a primary partner and which is supported by a five-year NSF EPSCoR grant.

The IAB will provide feedback to the New Mexico EPSCoR Project Director, the SMART Grid Center Executive Committee, and the four individual research teams that are encompassed by the Center (SMART Grid architecture, networking, decision-support, and integration and implementation in physical testbeds like Mesa del Sol and Hardware-In-Loop environments). The feedback will focus on the relevance and value of the research performed by the four research teams to practical applications, suggestions for maximizing that value, and potential directions for sustaining research well beyond the remaining two years of the project.

We are pleased to announce these eight outstanding individuals and organizations who will serve on the IAB, and thank them for their participation:

Name Title Organization
Matt Cannon Research Scientist Shell New Energy Research and Technology
Jon Hawkins Associate Director, Innovation and Communication PNM Resources
Gary Oppedahl Vice President, Emerging Technologies Emera Technologies
Bill Kipnis Senior Business Development Manager Siemens Industry
Astrid Atkinson Chief Executive Officer Camus Energy
Bryan Hannegan Chief Executive Officer Holy Cross Energy
Peter Lilienthal Global Microgrid Lead UL
Luis Reyes Chief Executive Officer Kit Carson Electric Cooperative