As climate change drives more frequent natural disasters across the globe, microgrids are increasingly being recognized as a resilience solution.

In a co-authored blog for the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), Peter Asmus, research director at Guidehouse Insights, discussed actions stakeholders are taking to further commercialize microgrids as a tool to provide local energy resilience and facilitate clean energy deployment. 

Asmus and his co-author outlined four key messages that stand out in recent policy and market developments:

• Utilities and policy makers are using microgrids as a strategy for deep carbon reduction
• Utilities are developing microgrid tariffs to establish appropriate compensation mechanisms
• Resiliency planning is driving the demand to evaluate potential microgrid sites for critical infrastructure
• Leveraging the availability of public funds with joint customer-utility investments can reduce the financial barriers of microgrids

To date, lawmakers in 18 different states have proposed or enacted 112 bills with New York (15), Massachusetts (14), and New Jersey (13) leading the way in the northeast.