Full Title: Maryland Resiliency Through Microgrids Task Force Report
Author(s): Maryland Energy Administration
Publisher(s): Maryland Energy Administration
Publication Date: January 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Recognizing the value that microgrids can offer to energy surety and resiliency, on February 25, 2014, Governor Martin O’Malley directed his Energy Advisor to lead a Resiliency Through Microgrids Task Force (“Task Force”) to study the statutory, regulatory, financial, and technical barriers to the deployment of microgrids in Maryland. The Governor’s charge required the Task Force to develop a “roadmap for action” to pave the way for private sector deployment of microgrids across the State.
As defined by the Task Force, a “microgrid” is a collection of interconnected loads, generation assets, and advanced control equipment installed across a defined geographic area that is capable of disconnecting from the macrogrid (the utility scale electric distribution system) and operating independently. Microgrids are currently being deployed across the State in numerous settings; one popular application is the “campus-style” microgrid that serves a single customer on a single parcel of property. These campus-style microgrids exist at various locations in Maryland today, though there are certainly many opportunities to improve the technology, financeability, and functionality of these types of systems.