Frank Jossi

Frank Jossi is an independent journalist and consultant based in St. Paul, Minnesota and a longtime contributor to Midwest Energy News. His articles have appeared in more than 50 publications, including Minnesota Monthly, Wired, the Los Angeles Times and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Jossi has also been a Humphrey policy fellow at the University of Minnesota, a Fulbright journalism teacher in Pakistan and Albania, and a program director of the World Press Institute at Macalester College.

The Latest from Frank Jossi

Clean energy

Melissa Hortman was a climate and clean energy champion for Minnesota

The former state House speaker, assassinated by a gunman Saturday, helped to pass some of the country’s most ambitious state clean energy policy.

By Frank Jossi . 19 June 2025
Clean energy

Minneapolis tries to reset expectations for utility climate partnership

The City Council is about to approve new utility franchise agreements that include more specific targets for climate progress.

By Frank Jossi . 12 February 2025
ENN

Amid federal funding crisis, Minnesota rolls out state green bank program

Starting this year, the state-funded program will annually loan out at least $25 million for clean energy projects that meet its requirements.

By Frank Jossi . 31 January 2025
ENN

Rural Minnesota counties work together to simplify clean energy development and maximize local benefits

A long-running local government collaboration in southwestern Minnesota is helping to insulate the region from the kind of controversies and misinformation that have plagued rural clean energy projects in other states.

By Frank Jossi . 9 January 2025
ENN

As utility shutoffs soar in Minnesota, Xcel Energy agrees to consumer protections and racial disparities study

Advocates support measures to address a growing number of involuntary shutoffs, enabled in part by smart meter deployment, but say a recent hearing didn't address racial equity directly.

By Frank Jossi . 13 December 2024
Utilities

Xcel Energy says data centers won’t delay Minnesota clean energy target

At a regulatory workshop, a utility exec said Xcel can serve data centers and meet its 2040 clean energy mandate, but it might need to extend the life of gas plants.

By Frank Jossi . 5 December 2024
Distributed energy resources

Minnesota tribe could soon get a solar-powered resilience hub

A pair of developers are working to build a microgrid at an elementary school and community center on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

By Frank Jossi . 27 November 2024
ENN

Hiring experts to testify in utility cases is expensive, but a Minnesota law is helping more groups participate

State lawmakers last year expanded a law that offers financial compensation to small nonprofits that provide expert testimony in public utility regulatory cases.

By Frank Jossi . 1 November 2024
ENN

Minnesota cities tap utility fees to help fund local clean energy and climate action

A Twin Cities suburb is among the latest cities looking to use utility franchise fees to help pay for climate and sustainability work, as many look to advance ambitious but underfunded targets.

By Frank Jossi . 17 October 2024
ENN

Minnesota advocates say their alternative to Xcel’s plan for new gas plants could save customers up to $3.5 billion

A coalition of clean energy organizations hired experts to model alternatives, and found adding a single gas plant alongside a mix of existing plants, energy storage, efficiency and demand response, and market purchases that could avoid the risk of stranded assets.

By Frank Jossi . 17 September 2024