How to Protect NYC's Fresh Food Supply when Disaster Strikes

When the power fails, refrigerators go out too, jeopardizing our fresh food supply. That’s part of the reason a $137 million microgrid has been proposed in the Hunts Point area of New York City.

The South Bronx neighborhood is home to a wholesale food cooperative located at the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center (FDC).The 329-acre center is crucial because it processes and stores up to 60 percent of greater NYC’s produce, meat, and fish and feeds about 22 million people daily. More than $30 million of food would be lost if refrigerators failed for more than a few days.

To protect this food supply, the City of New York and partners have proposed a grid-connected microgrid. The project is one of 83 that won funds for a feasibility study from NY Prize, a state-sponsored competition to incentivize microgrids.

During power outages the markets usually load as much perishable food into trucks as possible, park them in the warehouse, and...

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