Electric utilities in North America must supply reliable electricity to their customers. That’s part of their mandate (along with affordability). But in some cases that reliability bumps up against safety. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is in that predicament. 

The utility has been found guilty of murder in the past several years because its electrical equipment was the cause of forest fires that killed hundreds of people. So, in order to keep the public safe, California utilities including PG&E, have adopted public safety power shutoffs. Known as PSPS events, these shut-offs mean that when the hot Santa Ana winds blow, and the risk of fire is elevated, utilities can de-energize their lines to reduce wildfire risk. 

Given enough advanced warning, for the most part customers have adapted to PSPS events. But there remain some customers, such as firefighters, for whom going without power is impractical – especially at critical moments when fire risk is high.  

Enter a multi-customer, front-of-the-meter microgrid that partners an IOU with a community choice aggregator. The Redwood Coast Airport renewable energy microgrid has been years in the making. Earlier this month it entered service to support critical infrastructure north of San Francisco.

With extreme heat, wildfires, and other natural and man-made disasters challenging the nation’s bulk power system, microgrids like this are gaining traction.

Read more about the Redwood microgrid project as Powergrid International reports on its debut.