A front-of-meter microgrid located at the Sonoma Valley Unified School District has set out to become the first to achieve three goals: help bring more solar online, participate in wholesale markets and charge electric school buses. “This has never been done successfully,” said Nick Tumilowicz, principal manager, grid integration of distributed … [Read more...]
EPRI is getting ready to test military microgrids with transportable batteries in its work to create a more standardized microgrid design. “Microgrids installed for backup power on military and non-military sites are currently customized according to each site, which result in costly and, at times, lengthy design and installation time … [Read more...]
The California Energy Commission Friday approved a $5 million grant to demonstrate a standardized, renewable energy microgrid at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division near Oxnard. The microgrid is part of a larger, $50 million effort by the commission to help commercialize microgrids — both for the military and private … [Read more...]
The California Energy Commission (CEC) wants to make microgrids more bankable. But to do so it must first translate DER and microgrid complexity into simplicity. That's the aim of a $2 million grant that the commission awarded to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). In turn, EPRI has hired Bankable Energy/Xendee -- developer of … [Read more...]
Already a pioneer in municipal broadband and smart grid, Chattanooga, Tennessee, is now setting its sights on developing an airport microgrid that will employ an innovative, open-source controller. The city's utility, the Chattanooga Electric Power Board (EPB), and partners are working on a microgrid for the Chattanooga Airport that will … [Read more...]
New York regulators have okayed a Consolidated Edison microgrid plan and other non-traditional resources to solve problems typically fixed by more conventional means. The utility, one of the nation’s largest, needs to ward off a 69-MW shortfall brought on by new electric demand in Brooklyn and Queens. The Public Service Commission called the … [Read more...]
Yes, the wheels of government turn slowly. But not in New York. Not this time. State regulators called on utilities and other stakeholders late last week to get to work now on microgrids and distributed energy demonstrations, rather than wait for final rules in its Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV process. REV promises to decentralize the … [Read more...]
Seven microgrid projects will receive more than $8 million in federal funding to help cities and towns better prepare for extreme weather, the Department of Energy announced today. The money will go to projects in Alaska, California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Tennessee and Washington. The projects are being developed by Alstom Grid, Burr … [Read more...]
Commercial customers paying demand charges and time-of-use rates should seriously consider an investment in solar plus storage, a common technology used in microgrids. RMI’s Ryan Shea and Madeline Tyson describe the the organizations recent research on costs.
Technology innovations are changing the game, while public policies and regulations are shifting to allow new business models to gain traction. Combined, the regulatory and policy framework in California has bolstered the outlook of microgrids in the state. Download the new white paper from Concentric Power that points to a not-too-distant future where microgrids and DERs play an increasingly important role in the state’s energy mix.
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