Microgrids-as-a-Service: A New Approach to Solve Resiliency, Efficiency, Sustainability Challenges

This session will discuss how municipal, district, institutional, commercial campus or large buildings can benefit from a “Microgrid-as-a-Service” business model approach to stabilize their long-term energy costs and upgrade critical energy infrastructure without up-front capital.

Issues faced by Montgomery County, Maryland (and many other large facilities).

• Critical public safety facilities need 24/7 resilient power to ensure operational integrity
• The cost of Infrastructure Modernization is a concern for any organization
• The cost of electrical energy and heat needs to be stable over the long term for fiscal budget
• Some organizations are credit-worthy, but Charter requirements limit the amount of debt
• Non-profit organizations may require third-party ownership to realize Tax Incentives

Schneider Electric along with Duke Energy Renewables developed a unique “Microgrid-as-a-Service” approach for Montgomery County, Maryland to finance multiple Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), build two advanced microgrids, and support critical infrastructure upgrades, with no up-front capital. This industry-leading approach allows the partnership to focus on solving the issues faced by many large facilities: energy resiliency, infrastructure modernization, long-term stable energy cost, and third-party ownership, operation, maintenance and financing.