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Microgrids: A Path to Resiliency By Jamie Weisman and Neal Bartek, ENGIE Services U.S.
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he impact of a power outage to a special district can be disastrous: lost and delayed revenue, increased expenses (e.g., overtime labor, outsourcing), customer dissatisfaction, increased emissions, regulatory fines, or lawsuits. With the increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters, and because of the critical services provided by special districts, it is now more crucial than ever to focus on resiliency and energy effectiveness - in both daily operations, and long-term plans. An effective energy approach means using available energy to ensure operations run optimally and operational goals are achieved. It means going beyond maintaining status quo system operations during a typical (1-2 hour) outage to avoid some negative impacts. Special districts use energy in a variety of ways: lighting, computers, SCADA, heating and cooling, pumping, treating water, and even kitchen 12
A microgrid connects energy loads and distributed energy resources to optimize energy use.
California Special Districts • Mar-Apr 2018