With state funding, 83 New York communities planning microgrids

Dive Brief:

Municipalities around New York are issuing requests for proposals for assistance with microgrid feasibility studies, 83 of which recently received funding from the state through the NY Prize competition.
The state awarded grants of $100,000 to communities proposing microgrids in order to boost grid resiliency; the list of projects will then be whittled down to a second phase in which the state will assist in funding engineering, and a final phase where it will back construction.
Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the NY Prize had initially targeted up to 30 projects but wound up funding almost triple that number of feasibility studies.

Dive Insight:

From Buffalo to Geneseo to Southampton, communities around New York are reaching out to engineering firms around the state for assistance with microgrid projects recently backed by state funding.

Some projects are issuing RFPs with shortened time frames. Southampton's request – for assistance with a microgrid capable of powering town hall, the police station, three fire stations and other municipal buildings – was issued July 2 but is due today, according to Microgrid Knowledge.

While the NY Prize began targeted up to three dozen projects with a $40 million budget, it wound up selecting 83 in the initial phase, each receiving $100,000. So it remains unclear if the next phases will be expanded as well, but the competition's initial structure allowed for $1 million matching grants in the second phase, for up to 10 projects, followed by a $7 million grant to a single project to support final construction.

More than 130 communities proposed microgrids.

New York State Chairman of Energy and Finance Richard Kauffman said in a statement that the “overwhelming response from communities across the state is yet another sign Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy is responding to the needs of New Yorkers.”

New York's REV strategy is intended to help modernize and electric grid and add resiliency in an area where harsh weather has often been to blame for power outages.

“The increase in severe weather over the past few years has made it necessary for vulnerable regions across the state to find better ways to prepare and protect infrastructure, community facilities, homes, schools and businesses from power outages,” said Storm Recovery Interim Executive Director Lisa Bova-Hiatt.

A list of all the NY Prize winners can be found here.