Might require you to restart the game (not savegame compatable) or possibly use:
Mods: Place the mods into your "C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\Elemental\Mods" directory and enable mods in the options.
/createxmlbinary
This is one of the more "advanced" things for Elemental modding but, unfortunately, necessary to properly implement mods. You put it into your Elemental.EXE shortcut after everything. I put mine in my launcher shortcut using this for the shortcut's target "C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\Elemental\ELLaunch.exe" /createxmlbinary (quotes included).
This essentially reloads all your data and you should only have to do it once. You will notice a longer initial load time for a new game. It hasn't frozen, it's updating everything. Be patient.