For those building microgrids, here is a proceeding to watch. Consolidated Edison, one of the nation’s oldest and largest utilities, has agreed to undertake a microgrid pilot project in a recent deal struck with several parties.
The details are likely to come out sometime later this year. The timing is contingent on release of a separate microgrid study underway by the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, expected out this spring. Con Edison plans to make known its microgrid plan within six months of release of NYSERDA’s report.
Con Edison also says it will convene a collaborative to look at doing away with its offset tariff’s single customer limitation. This would allow multiple customers in the microgrid to offset distributed generation output against their energy usage.
The microgrid plan is a small part of a much larger rate agreement reached by the utility and several parties, including state energy planners, consumer advocates, the New York Power Authority, generators and environmentalists. The agreement must still undergo approval by state regulators. It is available on the New York Public Service Commission website under docket numbers: 13-E-0030, 13-G-0031, 13-S-0032.
The New York news follows a recent report by Navigant Research that finds the microgrid market “heating up quickly” around the world with North America at the forefront. Navigant expects global annual microgrid capacity to grow from 685 MW in 2013 to more than 4 GW by 2020.
