Insight from Academy Associate, Benjamin Schwartz
We are pleased to share a piece from an Academy associate, Benjamin Schwartz. Benjamin previously worked for the Academy as a researcher and producer, served as producer for the New Business Paradigms podcast, and served as an assistant producer for the Academy’s Solutions News Radio Show. He currently serves as a policy manager for Clean Coalition, a California-based nonprofit. The piece, “Attempts to Commercialize Microgrids Fall Short in California,” covers the failures of the state to protect communities before the next fire season.
Preface of the article:
“In the face of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and rolling blackouts, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1339 in 2018 with the intention of promoting the commercialization of microgrids to provide grid resilience. For disadvantaged communities in particular, the increased policy focus on microgrids has signaled an energy landscape shifting away from traditional infrastructure and toward non-wires alternatives (NWAs), bringing with it hopes of greater community planning and local resilience. However, one year after the regulatory proceeding at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) began to implement SB 1339 (R. 19-09-009), with two out of three tracks completed, the CPUC has yet to quantify the value that microgrids can offer — or even discuss the value-of-resilience (VOR) in a practical manner.”
Read more here on the challenges California must overcome in implementing microgrids into our communities to provide more resilience for our energy systems.