Should you even bother connecting to the grid?

By Elisa Wood, Microgrid Knowledge

After years of developing energy projects, and dealing with the frustrations of interconnecting to the grid, Ben Parvey said enough is enough. It’s time to help people get off the grid.

Parvey is not a back-to-the-land romantic. He’s a former public finance attorney who since 2008 has served as CEO of New Jersey-based Blue Sky Power, which?develops, finances, owns, operates and manages clean energy capital projects for governmental, institutional, commercial and industrial facilities

Blue Sky Power has a portfolio of success stories – sizable projects for colleges, manufacturers, senior centers, water works and others. But Parvey is also painfully aware of the projects that never happen, denying people clean, reliable energy in a timely way.

“The interconnection process and the regulatory frameworks prevent a lot of clean energy project development and microgrid development,” he said

When COVID-19 slowed down business in 2020, putting about $40 million in Blue Sky Power’s projects on hold, he and his team had time to take stock. Because energy technology has evolved to the point where homeowners do not need to connect to the utility grid, he thought, wasn’t it time to let them know? Continue reading on Microgrid Knowledge.