Dive Brief:

• Regulators in the District of Columbia launched an investigation into technologies and policies that can make Washington's power system more reliable, efficiency, clean and interactive.
• Initial comments are due today, and the Public Service Commission has scheduled an Sep. 22 workshop to kickoff the process and examine the District's current distribution system.
• As part of the initiative, Microgrid Knowledge reports the federal government's General Services Administration is considering a microgrid and advanced energy district for Washington's central downtown core.

Dive Insight:

The District of Columbia — home to more than 650,000 residents as well as the nation's government — currently has no microgrids, but that could be set to change. The city appears to be following a path progressive states like New York and California has taken, and has opened an investigation into technologies and policies that can help modernize its electric grid.

At the same time, the U.S. General Services Administration is considering the economics and engineering needed to develop a microgrid and advanced energy district in the city's downtown core, according to Microgrid Knowledge.

D.C. is served by Pepco, and last year the Public Service Commission said it would “continue to investigate new technologies that could improve Pepco’s grid with the incorporation of distributed generation including solar energy, and the exploration of micro-grid architecture opportunities, and other conservation and environmental quality issues."

That order came about nine months before an embarassing outage left the White House and other key agencies in the downtown area without power.

Initial comments are due today in the District's investigation, and the PSC has scheduled a workshop for Sept. 22 to consider the city's grid as it stands today. Regulators said the proceeding's goal is to "identify technologies and policies that can modernize our energy delivery system for increased sustainability and make the system more reliable, efficient, cost effective and interactive."