As a consequence of annoying intermittent electrical blackouts, the City of Stamford, Connecticut has contracted with an energy developer to install a micro-grid at City Hall. The City will sign a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pareto Energy who will use tax incentives and institutional debt to install a $5.4M fuel cell power generator.
The city would have an option to buy the facility after five years but is effectively taking the money going to Connecticut Power & Light to own their own power generation within 15 years and use the money generated for the city infrastructure.
Last year the City’s Board of Representatives established an Energy Improvement District (EID) after several years of unreliable power that thwarted business development. Major businesses across the country are recognizing the benefits of micro-grids and while Stamford has not opted for a renewable energy system, micro-grids fossil fueled or not, are still more reliable and efficient than centralized power.
Today there are many mature alternatives to the aging electrical grid that the establishment of an EID to allow large power consumers to generate their own power is more and more practical. Small geothermal generators use the temperature difference between ground water and/or the earth and outside ambient air to produce energy.
Raw sewage is converted to methane to produce power and biomass generators convert wood waste and other organic material into power and, of course, there is solar and wind. Stepping away from the centralized power generation model to smaller micro-grids or district energy makes it affordable for communities to enter the electricity business.
The City of Stamford does not expect to pay less for their power by implementing this system but does expect price stability throughout the life of the PPA until the city owns the system outright. CP&L expects an increase in power demand of 100% in Stamford within 5 years. Taking control of their energy allows the City to be independent of the investor owned utility to manage business, industrial and residential growth.
Military are implementing micro-grids
Coos County has the potential to recover from the loss of federal timber subsidies if our leaders will get together and look more at the resources at hand and cast less for a white knight in the form of a big corporation to ride to the rescue. Rural communities can pull out of these hard economic times and become a model of sustainability, but it takes vision and cooperation and determination and leadership.
