New Studies Point to Microgrids as ‘Once in a Generation Solution’

More microgrids mean more jobs. Americans across the political divide increasingly favor microgrids. And the technology opens a pathway for policymakers to implement an all-in-one climate solution.

Those are the messages from three reports released in unison today that together make a case for government action to support microgrids, according to the report sponsors. 

“Together, these reports clearly demonstrate that microgrids that use renewable energy can be a powerful engine for change, not only for our environment and resiliency, but also for our economy. The public is ready, and support is growing,” said Pam Solo, president of the Civil Society Institute (CSI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization focused on advancing civic engagement on issues that directly affect individuals and their communities. 

Cameron Brooks, executive director of Think Microgrid, an advocacy group and affiliate of Microgrid Knowledge, described the findings as groundshifting.

“We depend on the grid, but we learn every day and with every storm how brittle it is. It doesn’t have to be and what these reports highlight is how making our grid more resilient will also boost the economy with new jobs and bring more security to the systems we depend on,” Brooks said. “The infrastructure bill signed into law this week dedicated billions of dollars to bring equitable resiliency to the grid, and these reports make it clear that this will create new jobs and is exactly what voters are asking for.”

• Microgrids: An Immediate Climate Solution by Think Microgrid (vision paper).
• The Renewable Energy Economic Benefits of Microgrids by CSI, RMI and the Millennial Action Project (jobs report).
• Microgrids 2021 (public opinion research) by Lake Research Partners, CSI and VJBreglio.

First microgrid jobs report

The economic report marks the first effort to quantify how microgrids translate into jobs.

Prepared by Guidehouse, the report finds that by 2030 renewable microgrids in the US will generate 500,000 new jobs, $72 billion in GDP growth and $146 billion in sales across the supply chain. 

The study derived its figures by looking at the renewable energy, energy storage and microgrid controller components of microgrids, and it assumes 32 GW of microgrids will be installed by the end of the decade.

Peter Asmus, author of the economic study and research director at Guidehouse, noted that the research did not consider the impact of a microgrid tax credit included in the Build Back Better bill now before Congress.

“If that indeed does move forward, these benefits will all increase,” said Asmus, during a viewable panel discussion of the findings.

The economic study honed in on California and Puerto Rico, two areas hastening microgrid development to deal with climate disasters.

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