Microgrids 101

An Introductory Resource to Support the 9/28/2017 Energy Planning Workshop

Local Governments & Energy Planning

The goal of this two-pager is to support communities to actively improve their energy assurance, and in turn improve their ability to provide key community functions when their jurisdictionis most in need following an acute shock. Energy planning at the local level should consider reliability and resilience to ensure key functions like emergency services, and hospitals remain functional. Diesel generators are an example of existing measures to address local government continuity, but new solutions offer more economical, clean, and local solutions.

Defining Microgrids

Microgrids are sometimes a component of energy planning within local government. The US Department of Energy defines a microgrid as a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources […] that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid and can connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both grid‐ connected or island mode.

Microgrids come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit their unique context. Most microgrids are made up of the following components, but may not contain all components:

  1. energy loads (eg. a school, a fire station, or a commercial office building)
  2. energy generation sources (eg: solar photovoltaics or diesel generators)
  3. energy storage (eg: battery)
  4. distribution connections (eg: behind-the-meter or utility lines)
  5. energy management system (software)

Microgrids are increasingly being deployed across the nation; the business opportunity for microgrids is projected to double by 2020. In California, state and regional energy regulating and supplying bodies are committed to advancing microgrids in the region. An example of this is the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) and CEC’s(California Energy Commission)EPIC, Electric Program Investment Charge, funding and programming initiatives. The program is designed to fill gaps towards the development, deployment, and commercialization of next generation clean energy technologies in the state and does so in large by supporting and financingmicrogrid projects.

Microgrid Benefits

Microgrids offer distinct benefits to communities. Namely, microgrids:

  1. can operate independent of the grid during times of outages, therefore increasing resilience;
  2. coordinate distributed energy resources tomeet energy loads, therefore reducing grid demandand freeing capacity elsewhere;
  3. can incorporate more renewable energy than alternative energy systems, therefore decreasing carbon footprints;
  4. can be more efficient than alternative energy systems because of their distributed structure;
  5. contribute to the growth of green jobs in the economy; and
  6. can be designed to be less reliant on transported fuel supply

Relevant Resources

There are many resources available to local government staff interested in pursuing energy planning and/or microgrid projects.

Energy Planning

The Department of Energy (DOE)outlines steps local governments can take to ensure more reliable and resilient energy systemsin Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines . The Comprehensive Preparedness Guide prepared by the DOE and FEMA addresses energy planning within a larger frame of developing and maintaining emergency operations plans. The California Local Energy Assurance Planning project provides a web-based tool and methodology document to support local governments in ensuring that energy supply to key facilities are resilient to disaster.

Microgrid Development & Deployment

Introductory Resources (First Step)

The Municipal Sustainability and Energy Forum features a repository of webinars by nation-wide experts on a variety of relevant topics including: Microgrid Regulatory and Finance Strategies; Community Choice Aggregation Program Options & Impacts.

Technical Resources (Second Step)

Sandia National Laboratories features a conceptual design course on Energy Assurance and Advanced Microgrids. While this resource is tailored more to staff with technical capacities and resources to design and implement microgrids and distributed energy resources, it addresses big-picture modules including: Introduction to Electric Power and Energy Surety; Developing Performance Goals and Objectives; Energy System Performance Risk Analysis; and Cost Estimating for Energy Improvements and Microgrids.

The Microgrids Group at the Berkeley Lab has designed Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM)with two distinct components: Investment and Planning Operations. This model assists microgrid designers in identifying equipment and operational combinations for microgrids that minimize the cost of on-site generation.

Local Case Studies (Additional Resource)

The projects featured in the Energy Planning workshop hosted at the Bay Area Metro Center highlight the ways in which local government has capitalized on EPIC, DOE, and other support to develop microgrid projects:

  • Berkeley Energy Assurance Transformation Project (BEAT)
  • Fremont Fire Stations Microgrids
  • Solar and Energy Storage for Resiliency at SF Environment
  • Peninsula Advanced Energy Community

Visit for all materials from the September 28thEnergy Planning: Implementing Microgrids as a Resilience Strategy workshop.

If you have further questions, reach out to Michael Germeraad at