POWER May 2016 - 39

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES
be able to operate both connected to the larger
grid and in islanded mode; others argue
islanded operation is not essential. But anyone
involved in developing microgrids would
agree that, whatever combination of loads and
distributed energy resources (DERs) are included,
they must be in communication with
each other and be interconnected by way of a
dedicated control system that can operate all
the elements as a discrete entity.
The necessity of independent control
means that early efforts by U.S. Department
of Defense (DOD) branches at a variety of
facilities have not been actual microgrids.
Although the DOD was an early and enthusiastic
adopter of onsite renewable generation
and storage to support energy supply resiliency
and renewables targets, the controls component
was not always present; generation
and distribution assets were either owned by
the utility or unable to island from the utility
grid. That's not necessarily a bad thing; it
depends on the microgrid's goals.
Speaking of resiliency, one Microgrid
Summit attendee challenged the use of that
term. What was really being discussed was
reliability, he implied. Reliability is a familiar
metric for the electricity sector, whereas
resiliency is a newer term that has been used
by utilities, consultants, and governments.
Microgrids may provide resiliency for facilities,
processes, and communities by providing
a more-reliable power source-at least
for critical loads-during times of grid stress
when the transmission and/or distribution grid
is down if they switch to islanded operation.
They can provide that reliability because, in
addition to providing onsite generation, they
typically underground any distribution lines
that run beyond a single building. They may
also enhance distribution grid resiliency by
providing DER at critical feeder locations.
Microgrids Are Part of the Big Grid
The addition of sometimes complex grid resources
" behind the meter " raises a variety
of concerns. On the distribution side, many
operators are used to dealing with large, selfgenerating
customers and with demand response
programs. But adding microgrids to
other DERs (which are proliferating in some
places) raises the question of how to upgrade
a distribution grid that optimizes " going from
a quartet to multiple orchestras, " as Christopher
B. Berendt, partner with Drinker Biddle
& Reath put it.
Nevertheless, as several speakers at the
Microgrid Summit observed, microgrids are
becoming an integral part of the larger grid.
In many ways, they provide more stability
and predictability than other isolated DERs,
especially rooftop solar.
Microgrids are becoming an " alternative
May 2016 | POWER
service delivery model, " said San Diego Gas
& Electric's (SDG&E's) Neal Bartek, distributed
energy resources manager. Jim Reilly
of Reilly Associates, agreed, observing that
microgrids are becoming more a part of the
distribution system, not just something used
in emergencies.
That shift has been enabled at least in part
by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Order 745, which was upheld earlier this
year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Order 745
enables grid operators to include demand response
resources in organized wholesale markets,
where they are eligible for payments.
For example, as Esrick O. McCartha Sr.,
senior business solutions analyst at PJM Interconnection,
explained, microgrids can go far
beyond playing a grid-balancing role through
demand response. He said PJM is interested
in microgrids from the perspectives of load
forecasting (though its 15-year look-ahead
has not yet included microgrids), visibility,
and planning. PJM welcomes microgrids, he
said, though if they aren't connected to PJM,
they aren't visible or dispatchable.
If you have all the microgrid components,
you can participate behind the meter (as
load) as a resource for generation by reducing
load. But (at least in PJM), if you have
DER such as behind-the-meter generation
or battery storage, then you also can inject
power into the system in front of the meter-
as supply. Doing so, McCartha told POWER
in a post-session interview, requires an interconnection
agreement, which is available
to anyone who pays for it. To date, however,
although PJM does have battery energy storage
in front of the meter as well as demand
response microgrid resources (including
Princeton University's), it doesn't have a
connected microgrid that is both behind and
in front of the meter.
The Role of States in Microgrid
Development
As distributed energy generation and storage
markets continue to grow while costs
drop, there's more interest in exploring microgrid
options from both commercial and
industrial and municipal entities. But developing
a microgrid beyond a single building
can raise questions of rights of way, interconnection
rules, rates, and other regulatory
issues (see sidebar " Who Benefits and Who
Pays? " ). That's why state utility regulators
are seen as key stakeholders in microgrid
market development.
Microgrid Summit attendees heard from
regulators and those who interact with them
in several states, including Arizona, California,
Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and
the District of Columbia. All of the states represented
are interested in developing microwww.powermag.com
Alaska
Goes Big for
Microgrids
At IHS CERAWeek in February, Senator
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) commented,
" Microgrids are going to be my state's
future. " They're also its present.
Unlike the lower 48, Alaska has no
" main " grid and doesn't interconnect
with other large grids (and opportunities
for such interconnection are very
limited). It's also different from Hawaii
because of its smaller population spread
over a far larger geography, so microgrids
make a lot of sense.
In December 2014, Navigant Research
declared that Alaska led the world in microgrid
deployment, with between 200
and 250 " permanently islanded " microgrids-ranging
from 30 kW to 100 MW
in size and with a total capacity of over
800 MW. Some have operated for more
than 50 years.
grids and are seeing a lot of interest in them
from the public. (Though one regulator mentioned
that some environmental groups have
unrealistic expectations for microgrids-
something they have in common with some
utility executives, as was mentioned in a different
session.)
Jamie Ormond, advisor to California
Commissioner Catherine J.K. Sandoval,
underscored the importance of engineers,
vendors, and other interested parties participating
as interveners in dockets before utility
commissions-like the microgrid interconnection
docket currently before the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)-to
ensure that commissioners understand all the
issues around microgrids and how the rules
are established for their operation.
New York is seen as one of the leaders in
microgrid market support as a result of its
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative
(see " New York's Reforming the Energy
Vision " in the May 2015 issue of POWER
at powermag.com) and the $40 million New
York Prize, offered by the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA) to help " communities reduce
costs, promote clean energy, and build reliability
and resiliency into the electric grid "
via microgrids.
One panel at the summit discussed progress
to date in New York. Michelle Isenhouer
Hanlin, energy program manager at Booz Allen
Hamilton, commented that, where microgrids
are concerned, REV has opened a big
door, but it makes " a nebulous ask " of utili39
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POWER May 2016

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