This guide serves energy users, campuses and others who are contemplating microgrid installations - or already participate in a microgrid - and want to understand how policy can enhance microgrid capabilities. What might upcoming decisions mean to these colleges and universities, data centers, municipalities, pharmaceu- tical companies, research … [Read more...]
To begin building a new energy consumer strategy, it is important to plan carefully to ensure return on investment is maximized and risks are reduced. 1. Consult with an expert to help determine the local regulatory situation, electricity tariff structure, smart grid programs availability, and all available government incentives. 2. Calculate … [Read more...]
Governments, utility companies, and many businesses today agree we are in the midst of a shift toward a low-carbon economy. Many utilities are transitioning toward more renewable energy generation models and utilizing new energy storage solutions like specialized microgrids. Much of the focus has been on clean generation sources such as wind and … [Read more...]
The Advanced Energy Centre, Carleton Sustainable Energy Research Centre (CSERC), and New Energy Community Inc. convened a seminar and workshop on November 2nd, tasked with examining frameworks for advancing technology, business value, and public policy for clean energy microgrids. The event featured industry and utility leaders, multidis- ciplinary … [Read more...]
Economic, technology and environmental incentives are changing the face of electricity generation and transmission. Centralized generating facilities are giving way to smaller, more distributed generation partially due to the loss of traditional economies of scale. Distributed generation encompasses a wide range of prime mover technologies, such as … [Read more...]
Community microgrids empower local leaders to serve community energy needs in a more economical, reliable, and environmentally friendly manner than the existing centralized electricity grid. A community microgrid can bring together whole-building energy efficiency improvements, clean distributed generation, renewable energy, and smart energy … [Read more...]
As a cornerstone of one of the youngest, largest, and most prestigious planned communities in the country (the City of Irvine), UCI was established on sprawling undeveloped acreage on the bluffs bounding the Pacific Ocean. This allowed the campus to be methodically and systematically designed from scratch with a large, circular central park … [Read more...]
With their grid-interconnectivity advantages, the integration of advanced microgrids will improve system4 energy efficiency and reliability and provide enabling technologies for grid-independence to end-user sites. One popular definition that has been evolved and is used in multiple references is that a microgrid is a group of interconnected loads … [Read more...]
The U.S. Department of Energy defines a microgrid as a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. Microgrid benefits help us connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or … [Read more...]
NRDC’s Max Baumhefner, senior attorney for the climate and clean Energy Program, explores how the proliferation of electric vehicles could potentially lower utility bills across the board.
North America was pummeled this year with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. As devastating as these events were, none compare to the threat of a major cyber attack on the American electrical utility grid. Download the new report from Microgrid Knowledge, courtesy of S&C Electric Co., that explores the threat of cyber attacks and why microgrid cybersecurity is crucial to the grid of the future.
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