OE Grid Galaxy - October Edition

Message from Gene:

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already! Those of us with small children are gearing up with costumes and decorating pumpkins. Yards become cluttered with skeletons, ghosts, and tombstones. Horror movies dominate our streaming platforms. And, every time we go to the supermarket, we face the difficult-to-resist temptation of aisles overflowing with bags of “fun size” candy.

Here at the Office of Electricity, we look at October a little differently. We like to celebrate October as National Clean Energy Action Month. This is a time when we recommit ourselves to our mission of modernizing America’s power grid to make it reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable for all Americans. A modernized 21st century power grid is the foundation for securing 100% clean electricity by 2035 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The critical importance and urgency of achieving these goals is heightened by the devastating hurricanes, floods, and wildfires our nation has suffered that are tragically becoming more violent and more frequent.

This year, our Office of Electricity team is putting the emphasis on “Action” in our commemoration of National Clean Energy Action Month. In this issue of OE Grid Galaxy, you will read about several actions our office has taken as part of our pledge to ensure that every American continues to enjoy the benefits of reliable and affordable clean electricity service. You will read about C-MAP, our new program to help underserved and Indigenous communities develop and maintain microgrids. You will also be introduced to one of our exceptional staff members, Vinod Siberry, our technology manager for energy storage validation.?

So, we thank you for allowing us to interrupt your Halloween planning and preparations to tell you about some of the important progress and impact we are making here in the Office of Electricity. I hope you enjoy reading about it in this month’s issue of OE Grid Galaxy.

Yours in partnership,

Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership

Underserved and Indigenous communities in remote and rural regions of the United States have some of the highest energy costs in the nation. Households in these areas typically pay 33% more for electricity than households in more populated parts of the country. Geographic isolation, paired with workforce availability, make it difficult for these communities to attract financing for the development or maintenance of local energy resources. Energy efficiency projects have prohibitive up-front costs that keep households in these areas from implementing them. Add to that the fact that these communities are especially vulnerable to energy disruptions due to natural disasters and aging infrastructure.

The Office of Electricity (OE) recently launched a program to help these communities get more reliable and affordable electricity. The Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) will provide support to underserved and Indigenous communities in remote, rural, and islanded regions throughout the U.S., including Tribal nations, to develop or improve microgrid systems. The pilot program will focus on communities in Alaska, Hawaii and Tribal lands, primarily in the Great Plains and Southwest.

In partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), OE is currently accepting proposals from these communities and the energy utilities that serve them until December 20, 2024. They will offer multi-community development initiatives to support early-stage microgrid deployment planning, as well as community-based microgrid development support, providing resources (including funding) to assess or improve microgrid development, planning or operation.

OE Employee Spotlight: Vinod Siberry, Technology Manager for Storage Validation

What exactly do you do?

Scope, manage, and foster engagement for programs that help reduce barriers for commercialization and deployment of innovative energy storage technologies.??

What do you find rewarding about your work??

Getting to be on the front line of innovation for modernizing the nation’s electricity grid [which] affects everyone.

What projects are you excited about?

Excited to see the Rapid Operational Validation Initiative (ROVI) continue to make progress.

How does that project impact everyday Americans? ?

ROVI will enable new and innovative energy storage technologies to be deployed at an unprecedented pace and will help ensure the grid is reliable, resilient, affordable, and safe.

What do you enjoy most about working at OE? What is the most rewarding part of your work?

Seeing our impact in the real world by hearing from external stakeholders how they’ve benefitted from our programs.

OE Out and About

Assistant Secretary Gene Rodrigues speaks to the crowd at the Sustainable Clean Energy Summit at the University of Connecticut in September.

Assistant Secretary Gene Rodrigues speaks at the National Rural Electric Co-op Meeting on Aug. 21.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Gil Bindewald III speaks at the National Association of State Energy Officials board meeting.?

Podcast | Smart Grid: The Future of Reliable Energy

Part 1: Hear from OE's Chris Irwin, Program Manager for Transactive Energy, Communications and Interoperability in Smart Grid, on "The Tech Between Us" podcast! He dives deep into Smart Grid technology and its role in modernizing America's electric infrastructure. Learn how we're shaping a secure, resilient and reliable energy future.

Already listened to Part 1? Check out Part 2 below! Explore how modern communication tech–from ZigBee to 5G–powers the Smart Grid and how the grid is becoming a nationwide "Internet of Things."

Did You Know?

It is possible to get clean, renewable energy around the clock! Some sources of renewable energy, like solar and wind, are variable—they fluctuate in nature and don't always produce the same amount of power. But energy storage technologies can capture, save, and dispatch clean energy from variable sources whenever it is needed.

From the controlled release of water behind a dam, hydropower is available as long as there is enough water in the lake, geothermal power plants, which harness energy from the heat beneath our feet, are always on, and while the wind isn't always blowing everywhere, it is always blowing somewhere. Happy Clean Energy Action Month!