Commercial and Industrial Microgrid Developers
Michaud Law Group has and continues to assist commercial and municipal clients with microgrids in Connecticut. Microgrids are integrated systems of on-site energy infrastructure that use advanced controls to optimize distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar arrays, battery storage, and dispatchable generation. Their operations can be integrated with a utility grid connection if available while retaining the ability to operate independently from the grid in case of a utility outage. Microgrids can also provide a completely self-sufficient off-grid power source for facilities that currently lack a grid connection while retaining the ability to integrate with utility service if and when it becomes available.
Microgrids use on-site DERs to power a facility or facilities in a given area. Typically, microgrids operate with the utility grid, with advanced controls optimizing energy use from each resource to minimize energy costs and emissions. If the utility grid goes down, microgrids can automatically isolate (or “island”) from the grid and rely on on-site resources to keep critical operations running.
Microgrids can provide several valuable advantages compared to relying exclusively on the utility grid, including cost savings, enhanced resilience, and improved sustainability performance. Many businesses also turn to microgrids to provide power supplies (or additional capacity) for facilities sooner and at a lower cost than waiting for utility service or capacity upgrades.
Microgrids often include solar and battery storage resources. Still, they can provide superior overall value for two reasons: resilience and maximizing economic value through dynamic energy management. First, they offer a resilient energy supply due to the microgrid’s ability to operate autonomously (or “island”) from the grid in case of a power outage. Solar-only installations, and even many solar and battery installations, typically lack this feature. Microgrids may also incorporate dispatchable, fuel-based generators, which enable them to provide resilient power during prolonged, multi-day outages. In contrast, solar and battery installations with islanding capability can typically only supply backup power for several hours.
Microgrids can also enable dynamic energy management strategies, with advanced controls optimizing the use of on-site energy resources to maximize overall value. For example, based on a facility’s specific electricity usage patterns, a microgrid can find the optimal balance between minimizing peak grid use to avoid excess demand charges, shifting the use of solar to cheaper hours of the day in areas with TOU rates, and participating in utility demand response programs. While solar and battery installations may be able to capture simple value streams such as TOU arbitrage, they typically lack the sophisticated, site-specific algorithms required to optimize across all of these value streams.
