The latest hurricane season, which left millions without power
for substantial periods of time, was yet another reminder of the
urgent need to make America's electrical grid more resilient.
The increasing frequency and intensity of such storms is exposing
the vulnerabilities of the aging electrical grid, i.e., the network
of transmission and distribution lines often spanning long
distances between power generation sources and population centers.
These lines can be taken out of service by falling trees, flying
debris, or extreme heat or cold, while their substations can be
destroyed by flooding, leaving tens of thousands of customers
without power at a time.
Microgrids, which provide more localized power generation and
distribution, can play a vital role in providing resilience by
islanding themselves from the rest of the grid during such outages
while continuing to provide power to critical facilities. In
addition to providing resiliency, microgrids have other
