The State of Connecticut released $5.1 million to the towns of Bridgeport and Milford to develop microgrid projects. The microgrids will provide energy for a police station, city hall, school and university facilities, senior housing, and emergency shelter facilities among the two towns.
The grant awards are part of the Connecticut Microgrid Program, which was legislated in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to support the design and development of distributed energy generation for critical public facilities and services. “Under the Microgrid Program, grants can be awarded to any number of recipients to support critical facilities and are to be distributed evenly between small, medium, and large municipalities, if possible.” Critical facilities are defined as, “any hospital, police station, fire station, water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant, public shelter or correctional facility, any commercial area of a municipality, a municipal center…or any other facility or area identified by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as critical.”
This award is part of the second round of grants awarded through the Connecticut Microgrid Program. Thus far the program has funded 11 microgrid projects across the state. A third round of grants worth $25 million is scheduled for later in 2015.
Sources:
Microgrid Grant and Loan Program
Public Act No. 12-148