Industry News

Microgrid Resources Coalition

Washington DC,  9 May, 2018 -  Today the Microgrid Resources Coalition (MRC) submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission  (FERC) for the new docket – “Grid Resilience in Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators (Docket No AD18-7-0000 – the “Resilience Docket”) on behalf of the members of MRC and the microgrid and district energy industry.

We invite industry participants from the microgrid and district energy sector to review the comments as posted.  In particular, MRC suggests that the definition of “resilience” be broadened to be measured by the ability to sustain the health, security and economic activities of local communities.  The filing explains the features and operation of microgrids as resources to the grid and encourages FERC to support evolution of electricity markets and eliminate barriers to deployment of microgrids, emphasizing the importance of “Local” resources as defined holistically by communities and institutions.   There are of course issues to be addressed regarding jurisdiction, double-counting of capacity resources and grid architecture, and the submittal offers relevant case studies to inform the policy recommendations.

We encourage industry colleagues to share these MRC Comments on Resilience.    As noted earlier, the MRC is a non-profit coalition formed to support education and advocate for common-sense, non-discriminatory deployment of microgrids.  MRC will be hosting Microgrid 2.0 in Baltimore in Oct 28-31, 2018.  Net proceeds from that conference will be re-invested in advocacy for regulatory reform with federal agencies and state commissions.  To review previous MRC advocacy efforts, please visit here.  To add your voice and advance these important activities, we welcome organizations to apply to join the MRC in support of accelerating regulatory reform.