Washington State announced $3.9 million in grants from the state’s Clean Energy Fund on Aug. 25, to design and build 18 electric grid modernization projects, including microgrids.
Nine of the projects include microgrids and all help Washington’s utilities move the state closer to its 2045 goal of having 100% of its electricity supply free of greenhouse gas emissions. The utilities, award amounts and projects with microgrids are:
- Avista: $240,000 for a solar and energy storage microgrid with the Spokane Tribe of Indians to provide energy resilience during wildfires, energy independence for critical facilities and billing benefits for customers.
- Orcas Power and Light Cooperative: $150,000 for a solar plus storage microgrid, an electrified medium-duty truck fleet, public and private light-duty vehicle charging, electric bicycle charging, Washington State Ferries serving Friday Harbor and other marine craft.
- Orcas Power and Light Cooperative: $165,000 for a biomass combined heat and power facility with microgrid controls. The facility would be fueled by vegetation collected during maintenance work around power lines or forest health maintenance. The project would reduce winter peak demand charges and increase energy independence for the islands.
- Puget Sound Energy: $150,000 to add a renewable hydrogen or renewable natural gas-powered generator to a microgrid at Tenino High School. The addition would help the community use the school as an emergency shelter.
- Seattle City Light: $500,000 for a microgrid using second-use batteries from transit vehicles. The system will increase the resilience of electricity supply to an increasingly electrified public transit fleet as the city decreases diesel emissions in a community experiencing high levels of environmental health disparities.
- Snohomish County PUD: $150,000 for a neighborhood-scale South Everett microgrid, in partnership with the City of Everett to increase grid reliability and provide emergency backup power for the community. This includes low-income households experiencing high levels of environmental health disparities, such as impact from peak heat and cold periods.
- Snohomish County PUD: $150,000 for a renewable energy-based microgrid at the Tulalip Tribal Government Administrative Building. The project’s goal is to maintain government and emergency response facilities in a long-term power outage.
- Snohomish County PUD: $150,000 for a renewable energy-based microgrid at the Tulalip Tribes Gathering Hall. The project’s goal is to create a shelter for community members in a long-term power outage.
- Tacoma Power: $99,354 for a community-centric microgrid to support the Franklin Pierce School District’s transition to electric school buses. The microgrid would integrate solar, upcycled batteries and idle bus capacity.
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