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NEWS<br />
Microgrids Make Inroads in Midwest,<br />
Illinois Taking the Lead<br />
By Kevin Stark of Energy News Network<br />
CHICAGO (AP) — The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is home to<br />
thousands of creatures, from shrimp to beluga whales, each<br />
dependent on a habitat that precisely mimics their natural<br />
environment.<br />
It takes a constant power source to keep the lighting and<br />
temperatures just so for the more than 100 environments,<br />
and for that, the aquarium counts on a microgrid.<br />
“The diversity of life and the environment requires a pretty<br />
reliable, resilient power system to ensure the safety,” said<br />
Drew Gravitt, a sales manager with Schneider Electric, an<br />
energy management and automation system company that<br />
manages the aquarium’s power system.<br />
The aquarium’s power system, which can operate as an energy<br />
island in the event of a grid power outage, is an example<br />
of a fledgling movement in the Midwest to invest in microgrids<br />
as a form of insurance for reliability and resiliency.<br />
Microgrids have not found fast traction in the region, mostly<br />
because the cost of power is low and distributed resources<br />
have not been developed as aggressively here. But that is<br />
changing as schools, large companies, and other institutions<br />
invest in behind-the-meter microgrids, especially here in<br />
Illinois.<br />
“Illinois is the bright spot in the Midwest,” said Peter Asmus,<br />
a principal research analyst with Navigant Research.<br />
Navigant Research tracks the growth of microgrids internationally<br />
and publishes a microgrid tracker every two quarters.<br />
The Midwest had 58 microgrids as of the second quarter of<br />
<strong>2018</strong>. The top segments were commercial or industrial (18<br />
projects), campus microgrids (15 projects), and military installations<br />
(<strong>11</strong> projects). Illinois had the most microgrids with 15,<br />
followed by 10 in Michigan and nine in Minnesota.<br />
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