The Energy Regions in Transition series has its roots in 2013, when RGI initiated an exchange between Europe and the US by inviting Dave Olsen, member of the Board of Governors of the California ISO (CAISO) to a series of events in Brussels and Berlin, including the 3rd European Grid Conference (a full recording of his presentation in Berlin is available here). Some months later, a delegation of Californian energy experts and regulatory leaders came to Germany to meet their European counterparts at an exclusive dinner organised by RGI. At this occasion, CAISO published an official statement of support for RGI's European Grid Declaration.
Since we strongly believe that this mutual exchange is a fundamental contribution to improve the reliability of the electricity system, to reduce costs and limit environmental impacts, RGI has put a lot of effort into making this exchange a regular and sustainable one. In addition to the collaboration with California, RGI has since engaged on learning journies to the elsewhere in the US, China and Canada. We hope to continue these journies in the future and to enable exchange between regions were potential for mutual learning is high.
In 2015 and 2016, RGI brought a delegations of European energy leaders to the US. They visited the States for a whole week full of high-level discussions, educational tours and site visits in New York, San Francisco, the Silicon Valley and Sacramento.
The CAISO Stakeholder Symposium topped off both trips, bringing together 1000 attendees, including energy executives, policymakers and the CAISO Board of Governors.
In 2018, we went to the other side of the world and visted China to learn more about the Chinese approach to the energy transition and their plans for global interconnection.
In 2019, we travelled with a group of colleagues from the European energy world to exchange with their counterparts from industry, policy and civil society in Canada.
Read about our trip highlights and the discussion outcomes in our summary reports.