Local microgrids are reshaping energy resilience and sustainability
As climate-fueled disasters strain traditional grids, locally powered green microgrids are emerging as a cleaner, more reliable alternative across the U.S.
Eric Krebs reports for Reasons to Be Cheerful.
In short:
- Following a devastating earthquake, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe in California relied on its solar-powered microgrid to maintain essential services, reducing energy costs and cutting carbon emissions.
- A national surge in microgrid installations, driven by plummeting solar and battery prices, is helping homes, hospitals and businesses maintain power during disasters while stabilizing electricity demand.
- Beyond resilience, microgrids offer economic and environmental benefits, such as maintaining more affordable energy prices and reducing reliance on fossil fuels during peak grid demand.
Key quote:
“Indirectly, we’re helping the grid. We’re lowering stress during those peak times because we’re able to feed the energy from the batteries back to the grid [rather than] direct to our bakeries.”
— Christopher Wolfe, senior director of environmental sustainability at Bimbo Bakeries USA
Why this matters:
Microgrids represent a lifeline in the face of climate-induced disasters, providing clean energy, improving health outcomes by reducing air pollution and ensuring that critical services like healthcare remain operational when conventional grids fail.
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