“It isn’t just about price anymore,” Rob Thornton, president and CEO of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), told Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. today.
Mayors, governors, employers and others also want energy supply that is resilient, local and clean, Thornton said at the briefing on microgrids, combined heat and power (CHP) and district energy at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The event, which attracted about 200 participants, took place as the House and Senate continue to struggle to produce a comprehensive energy bill before the session ends. It also comes as the new White House signals the possibility of making major infrastructure investments.
Thornton described a changing energy marketplace, where energy must offer attributes beyond just low prices. Microgrids, CHP and district energy provide those attributes, and should be part of any upcoming federal infrastructure spend, he said.
He highlighted Veolia’s 256-MW Kendall Station in Boston and Princeton University’s microgrid as examples of the efficient, local energy local leaders seek.
Kendall Station takes waste heat from power production and channels it into pipes to heat buildings in Boston. In conventional power plants, the heat energy goes to waste. By making good use of the heat, Kendall has reduced emissions the equivalent of removing 80,000 cars from the road. Achieving the same result with solar would require 600 football fields of PV panels, he said.
“If you have ever been to Boston, you can’t find 600 football fields,” Thornton said..
The US wastes vast amounts of heat in power production — as much energy as 197 other countries use, he said.
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Princeton, meanwhile, drew national attention when its microgrid kept the electricity flowing to the campus during Superstorm Sandy. Ted Borer, who operates Princeton’s microgrid, pointed out that the benefits extend beyond just electric reliability. In fact, he said that microgrids win on both environmental and economic arguments, as well.
“We want to save money and we want to save the environment. You can sell this to either side,” he said.
Borer called for greater consideration of lifecycle costs in development of energy infrastructure. In such cases, upfront costs may be high, but the system could last 100 years, he said.
The briefing was organized by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. It was the first of a two-day event in Washington, D.C. being held by IDEA and the Microgrid Resources Coalition. The second day, “Microgrids: Transforming the Grid,” will offer a series of panel discussions to be held at the National Press Club.
Join Microgrid Knowledge, the IDEA, MRC and executives from utilities, developers and customers from around the world who are interested in microgrid adoption at the Microgrid 2017 Conference and Exhibition on November 6 – 8, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. Click here for details.
