The Midwestern Governors Association (MGA) announced the addition of 12 Midwestern states to the Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit.
The RAPID Toolkit is a wiki-based web portal that offers one location for agencies, developers, and industry stakeholders to access state and federal renewable energy and bulk transmission regulatory processes by using a wiki environment to share permitting guidance, regulations, contacts, and other relevant information.
The Midwest is blessed with many sources of energy, which give our states a competitive advantage when recruiting energy intensive companies, and those that demand renewable energy. This one-stop shop for energy transmission information will help our region send more energy where it is needed faster.
The RAPID Toolkit makes regulatory and permitting information rapidly accessible from one location by providing links to permit applications, processes, manuals, and related information. 
The goal of creating and maintaining this toolkit is to facilitate communication between project developers and permitting agency personnel, among permitting agencies at all jurisdiction levels, and among all project stakeholders-including the public.
"This effort again demonstrates the willingness of Midwestern governors to work together to make the Midwest the best place to live, work, raise a family, and start a business," said MGA Executive Director Jesse Heier.
The Toolkit was developed with the support of the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who developed and manages the Toolkit. The Toolkit can be found at rapidtoolkit.org.