To investigate the mechanism of biological cell membrane electroporation at the nanosecond and nanometer scale, we tracked pore-forming lipids and water in molecular dynamics simulations of a palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer in a minimum porating electric field. Although the field-generated torque tilts the mean head group dipole a few degrees away from its equilibrium, zero-field position relative to the bilayer plane, this change in conformation does not appear to contribute directly to the development of the pore-initiating aggregation of lipid head groups and water that leads to the formation of a membrane-spanning hydrophilic pore. Field-directed rotation of the head group dipoles in the plane of the incipient pore wall, in combination with water dipole and solvation interactions at the aqueous-lipid interface, is one component in the coordinated ensemble of electroporation events.