Navigant's Peter Asmus provides an overview of US microgrid policy and identifies what's most needed to drive microgrid adoption. Asmus will be presenting these ideas at a special Microgrid 2019 pre-conference workshop May 13. In 2011, Connecticut was the first state to pass a law authorizing microgrids to serve community resilience. A … [Read more...]
Clean Coalition is on a mission to alter transmission access charges that the organization says unfairly boost the cost of local renewable energy and community microgrids in California. Eliminating the charges for locally produced renewables would lower the cost of renewable energy and microgrids, paving the way for more of both, says Craig … [Read more...]
Moving the microgrid market is an ambitious goal that will require policy changes, technology advances and a customer-centric approach, say several microgrid industry leaders recently interviewed by Microgrid Knowledge. Overall, this challenging effort delivers big benefits, they say. “It’s an exciting time to be in this industry,” says … [Read more...]
Can renewables cost less than fossil fuel generation? And are they as reliable? It appears so, especially when they are coupled with a suite of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as virtual power plants and demand response. New reports by Energy Innovation Policy and Technology and the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) lay out the … [Read more...]
Microgrids that regulators determine “serve the public interest” are back in play in Maine this year as lawmakers try to pass a bill that fell short a year ago. Legislators passed a bipartisan bill last year more clearly defining how microgrids could be created, but former Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed it. Newly elected Gov. Janet Mills … [Read more...]
Thermal storage is gaining ground in refrigeration applications, providing demand management for one of utilities’ most energy-intensive industries. Industrial refrigeration consumes more energy per cubic foot than any other utility load, said Collin Coker, vice president, sales and marketing, Viking Cold Solutions. Thermal energy storage … [Read more...]
Massachusetts, California, New York and Illinois are the top four states for energy democracy, as ranked by their commitment to boosting community-level renewable energy, according to a second annual Community Power Scorecard. The scorecard, released by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, names these states as stars because their energy … [Read more...]
A New Hampshire legislative committee last week okayed legislation to study microgrids. The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives for a vote on Thursday, March 14. The Committee on Science, Technology and Energy approved HB 183 in a 12-7 vote along party lines, with Democrats in support, according to Howard Moffett, a Democrat … [Read more...]
Microgrid advocates are urging New Hampshire voters to call their legislators in support of a microgrid bill scheduled for vote March 7. HB 183 would establish a committee to study changes in law necessary to allow for microgrids in electrical supply. Now before the New Hampshire General Court’s Committee on Science, Technology and … [Read more...]
Energy storage markets are growing quickly, driven by regulations, demand charges, plus utilities’ need to integrate solar into the grid and avoid building new peaking power plants. In fact, innovative utility-scale energy storage projects are popping up across the nation, with utilities and cities using storage to avoid building underground … [Read more...]
The relevance of microgrids to the modern power system has become so significant that fewer and fewer players can afford to ignore them. And given performance expectations and the complexity of build, the demand for detailed microgrid simulation and testing facilities is high.
So how can utilities continue to fulfill their service reliability obligations of today, while also integrating the distributed energy and up-and-coming technologies of tomorrow? Download the new white paper from Siemens and learn more about how today’s utilities are beginning to prepare by entering discussions around grid modernization, DER compensation, and business model transformation, by sharply enhancing core utility priorities, such as reliability, resiliency, and efficiency.
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