DC's Public Service Service Commission Seeking RFPs for Transactive Neighborhood Renewable Microgrid Pilot
Utility regulators for the District of Columbia are willing to wager that investment to strengthen the local grid is best deployed in new distributed energy projects that include multi-customer and neighborhood microgrids, according to a new request for proposals (RFP).
The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia has released the new RFP seeking pilot projects around a “transactive neighborhood renewable microgrid” concept. The microgrid pilot would connect multiple customers and would be supported by local utility Pepco.
It would receive funding from a special account created when corporate parent Exelon acquired Pepco about eight years ago. The $21.55 million pilot account, funded as part of the merger agreement, is set aside by the Public Service Commission of DC for modernization of the district’s electricity delivery system.
“The project should be sized to target a neighborhood of 50-200 residences and other buildings but can be larger,” reads the Public Service Commission of DC’s document. “Buildings included in the microgrid can be residential, commercial, or municipal.”
The maximum commission funding contribution for the proposed microgrid would be $10 million, although an accepted project developer could seek additional financing elsewhere, according to the RFP. The contract would be in place for five years, at least two of which would include operations of the microgrid.
The transactive neighborhood renewable microgrid would be the third of four pilots supported by the funding, according to the RFP.
The Public Service Commission of DC is only seeking proven technologies for the microgrid pilot. Applicants must be able to deliver working examples of grid services, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and customer benefits, the report says.
“Although this is a pilot project, the commission expects the microgrid and transactive platform to continue operating after the pilot period concludes,” reads the RFP. “As such, it should be designed with a continuity plan in place.”
The project could also demonstrate the integration of existing microgrid and distributed energy resource (DER) assets, as well as the interaction of networked microgrids.
Deadline to submit the RFP is April 17.
Microgrids are not new to the nation’s Capital region. Gallaudet University is home to a hybrid microgrid on the campus that was featured in content at last year’s Microgrid Knowledge Conference sessions in nearby Baltimore.
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The proposed transactive neighborhood microgrid can include on-site DERs from solar photovoltaic to battery storage to cogeneration, biomass and microturbines, among other options. The project can vary in size but be no bigger than 20 MW in capacity, according to the RFP.
Numerous power sector entities contend that the future of strengthening the main grid lies in uniting distributed energy resources and microgrids in a more decentralized, connected layout. Managed DER can contribute demand response, virtual power plant, voltage and frequency support services for the larger utility grid, particularly as it is challenged by new load demand from new data centers coming online and industrial and transportation electrification.
