Pepco has filed a $44.2 million proposal with Maryland regulators to build two public purpose microgrids, designed to keep power flowing to essential societal services during a grid outage and bolster utility operations on normal days. The Exelon subsidiary petitioned for approval of the microgrids before the Maryland Public Service … [Read more...]
Electric vehicles are quickly becoming one of the largest flexible loads on the grid in some areas, and the growth parallels the increase in numbers of air conditioners years ago, says a new study from the Smart Electric Power Alliance. However, the popularity of electric vehicles poses problems for utilities, which are finding that time-of-use … [Read more...]
If you want to track electric grid transformation, follow the microgrids. That was one of the lessons quietly underscored by the otherwise noisy regulatory review of the Exelon/Pepco utility merger, according to Rachel Gold, a senior associate at the Rocky Mountain Institute. When the $6.8 billion Exelon/Pepco merger closed last month … [Read more...]
So it turns out that utilities like microgrids, contrary to the notion – almost lore – that they dread them as economic disruptors or technical headaches. In fact, utilities view microgrids as a business opportunity. That was the finding of a recent project that I had the pleasure of working on with the nice folks at Utility Dive, who … [Read more...]
Ameresco’s vice president of microgrid services, Will Agate, describes the process of getting started on your microgrid project — the very first step of which is to carefully consider and define the needs of your organization and its community.
A microgrid is a discrete energy system consisting of distributed energy sources (e.g. renewables, conventional, storage) and loads capable of operating in parallel with, or independently from, the main grid. The primary purpose is to ensure reliable, affordable energy security for commercial, industrial and federal government consumers. Benefits that extend to utilities and the community at large include lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower stress on the transmission and distribution system.
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