On October 3-4, 2023, the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) hosted a Microgrid Action Planning Workshop through their joint Microgrids State Working Group with support from the U.S. Department of Energy. The objective of the workshop was to convene State Energy Offices and Public Utility Commissioners for peer sharing and information exchange on the programmatic, policy, and regulatory opportunities and barriers for microgrid development. Innovative programs and projects were spotlighted from a variety of states including Colorado, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, and West Virginia. There was also an opportunity for action planning among state attendees to look at ways to accelerate microgrid deployment in support of other state priorities such as grid resilience and transportation electrification.
The workshop included a site visit to the Brookville Smart Energy Depot in Silver Spring, Maryland which is an innovative microgrid configuration composed of solar PV, battery energy storage, natural gas generators, and electric bus charging systems. The project utilized a public-private partnership with Montgomery County and AlphaStruxure, as well as initial grant funding from the Maryland Energy Administration.