Draft Microgrid Roadmap Documents
The State of Colorado is proud to release the Colorado Microgrid Roadmap draft materials, including the draft Microgrid Roadmap, Critical Facility Prioritization Guide, and Critical Facility Prioritization tool. The public may submit comments on these documents until August 1, 2024 via the written comment form or at one of the stakeholder engagement meetings linked above.
Project background
On behalf of the State of Colorado, the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) is working with contractors from S&C Electric and NORESCO to develop a Colorado Microgrid Roadmap Study. The contractors are working with an interagency team of representatives from CEO and the Department of Local Affairs’ Colorado Resiliency Office (CRO) to develop the roadmap. This roadmap will evaluate the role of microgrids in ensuring all Coloradans have access to reliable and resilient electrical service.
Colorado has recently experienced an increasing number of climate-related extreme weather events, including wildfires, winter storms , and floods. State lawmakers recognize the potential impacts of these extreme weather events on the electric grid and passed legislation (HB22-1249) directing CEO and CRO to develop a Microgrid Roadmap providing guidance on how microgrids can:
- improve grid resilience and reliability for individual customers and communities;
- deliver and manage electricity;
- provide necessary infrastructure in locations where extending distribution infrastructure is not practical ; and,
- operate independently and disconnected from the larger grid when necessary to meet the electricity needs of communities, neighborhoods, or buildings.
Following robust stakeholder engagement efforts this winter and a public comment period on the Microgrid draft in summer 2024, the State will publish the final Microgrid Roadmap no later than January 1, 2025.
Stakeholder engagement and public comment
We are kicking off a second round of stakeholder engagement for the Microgrid Roadmap to improve electric grid resilience and reliability in Colorado.
After posting the draft Microgrid Roadmap materials (see above under “Draft Documents”), we hosted an informational webinar to provide an overview of the roadmap.
Watch Microgrid Roadmap Development Informational Webinar
The state hosted a series of meetings in July 2024 for various stakeholder groups to provide valuable feedback on the roadmap, which will inform revisions and updates to the draft roadmap as we finalize it later this year.
Stakeholders may also provide written feedback via the form linked below through August 1, 2024. See draft Microgrid Roadmap documents linked at the top of this webpage.
Contact Information
Apply for the Community-led Critical Infrastructure and Facility Prioritization Pilot Program
The Colorado Resiliency Office (CRO) and Colorado Energy Office (CEO) are looking for communities that are interested in improving their energy resilience to participate in a pilot of a "Community-led Critical Infrastructure and Facility Prioritization" process. Utilities are a required component of this process, but local government or other key local representatives would be the lead facilitator for this.
By going through the process, community partners will build consensus around which infrastructure and facilities projects to prioritize for energy resilience investments, such as microgrids, grid hardening, or advanced grid monitoring.
View Community-Led Critical Infrastructure & Facility Prioritization Overview
The selected pilot communities will receive between 4-12 hours of individualized support from the CRO and CEO including:
- Support for the lead facilitator in going through the "Community-led Critical Infrastructure & Facilities Prioritization" process;
- Facilitation support during an in-person workshop; and
- Technical assistance and guidance during and after the prioritization process to support the community in pursuing appropriate energy resilience resources.
Note: Only four communities will be selected for the pilot. Apply by August 16, 2024.
What is a microgrid?
A microgrid is a small network of interconnected electricity components that can function independently from the utility grid when necessary, such as during an extreme weather event. Local electricity generation, battery storage, and generators feed power to the microgrid interconnection. The microgrid interconnection can then distribute power to and from the utility grid, as well as directly to local electricity consumers, such as commercial, industrial, and residential buildings and electric vehicles. Because the microgrid interconnection receives power from multiple sources, it is able to disconnect from the utility grid and continue delivering electricity to local electricity consumers during utility grid power outages. A microgrid controller oversees this process to ensure uninterrupted, reliable access to electricity.
Objectives
The goal of this project is to produce a Microgrid Roadmap that can help guide policy and the development of microgrids in Colorado. This includes:
- Defining the potential benefits of developing different types of microgrids with various technologies, including if and how microgrids will improve grid resilience and reliability in Colorado.
- Developing criteria to prioritize microgrid projects in places that are at high risk of electric service disruptions due extreme weather or inadequate infrastructure
- Recommending legislative or administrative actions to facilitate projects, including:
- statutory or rule changes
- factors to consider for the safety, development, maintenance, and deployment of microgrids
- metrics to evaluate the costs and benefits of microgrids
- financial and technical support needs
- education and outreach programs, including apprenticeship programs