Making Urban Microgrids a Reality

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Various business models currently available for community microgrid development.
• Nuts and bolts of currently regulatory pathways for community microgrid development and key regulatory changes that could advance greater adoption of community micro-grids
• What technologies are being used to advance urban-energy resilience

MORE SESSION DETAILS

To date, microgrids have been implemented primarily in campus or rural settings. But increasingly cities and utilities are making community microgrids work in dense urban settings, supporting energy resilience and public safety in the face of hazards like flooding, earthquakes, and extreme heat. Learn about the regulatory pathways, technologies, business models, financing options, and stakeholder-engagement strategies that are moving microgrids in urban settings from planning to reality. The City of Berkeley, California, is designing a microgrid for multiple critical facilities in its downtown. New York City is implementing energy-resilience solutions in Hunts Point, home to an environmental- justice community and a city-managed 329-acre food-distribution center. ComEd’s grid modernization program is focused on improving distribution-system resilience during extreme weather conditions and leveraging its grid investments to create a platform for smart city application. As part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, ComEd has been working to design, develop, and deploy microgrid technology in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Session speakers will discuss the key steps, considerations, challenges, and successes they have faced in implementing their energy- resilience projects.