Guide for Community Microgrids in Cities

* Booklet: Community Microgrids. A Guide for Mayors and City Leaders Seeking Clean, Reliable and Locally Controlled Energy. Microgrid Knowledge, 2015

URL = http://bezdomny.org/pdf/MGKCommunityMicrogrids.pdf

Description

"While towns and cities show increasing interest in microgrids—and several have projects under development—little easily accessible guidance exists for municipal leaders who are exploring the concept. To help these communities get started, MicrogridKnowledge.com has produced this report, “Community Microgrids: A Guide for Mayors and City Leaders Seeking Clean, Reliable and Locally Controlled Energy,” the third in our Think Microgrid series.

In this guide, we describe how microgrids serve communities and explain why states like California, Massachusetts and New York promote their development, and offer substantial incentives to boost the industry.

We also detail the key features of a microgrid, how they work, the value of incorporating both electricity and heat into a project, and why microgrids foster development of renewable energy.

We identify steps for cities and towns to take as they begin to develop a project, and discuss various finance options and incentives. Finally, we provide examples of communities that are already benefitting from community microgrids, and others well on their way.

As city and town leaders are well aware, electricity is essential to a functioning society, more so now than ever before as almost all aspects of our economy become Internet-based. We invite you to read on to learn more about how microgrids can protect vital energy supply to your community."