Our stated goal to build community owned microgrids and teach others to do the same.
This means our initiatives are not considered “Complete” till we exit and empower the community to energy independence. I’d like to talk a little about how we intend to achieve this.
Why Community Ownership matters
- Sustainability: when the community owns the energy resources, they have incentive to make the product better because they stand to benefit as customers and owners. This drives down cost of energy for them long term and leads to a sustainable (self-funding) model.
- Agency: ownership helps guard against perverse incentives that could benefit owners at the risk of hurting customers. The community can take a driving seat in the decisions on future of their microgrid.
- Efficiency: In our experience, there’s a organic desire to conserve and use energy responsibly that is cultivated when the community can think of the energy resources as “our own power”. So it turns out, ownership is a brilliant way to address energy waste and encourage responsible use.
Building community owned microgrids
Our conviction is that people should live in communities and we want to help cultivate that. So our primary target customers are residentials first (and adjuscent businesses like schools, hospitals, saloons, shopping centers, restaurants) that already have a sense of community around them. This can take on different shapes like a rental apartment complex or a set of homes under the same home owners association.
We build a community owned microgrid for such communities through a 4 phase journey.
Phase 1: Data Ownership with a Microgrid Operating System
We deploy a microgrid OS for that community with smart metering capabilities. This microgrid OS is powered by free/open source software to protect the community’s freedom and start them on their energy independence journey by giving them ownership of the data generated by their energy use. The smart metering capability enables bulk purchase of power from the grid which can generate income to fund the next phases. The microgrid resells energy as a service to the community. The microgrid (OS) also enables usage data analysis which informs load sizing in the next phase.
Phase 2: Backup
Our communities deal with frequent macrogrid power outages. For most of them, having a reliable electricity is the main value proposition for setting up a microgrid. In phase 2, we deploy right sized battery capacity to provide backup power during macrogrid outages and increase energy reliability for the community
Phase 3: Backbone
After achieving nearly 100% reliability, we now invest in reducing the community’s reliance on the macrogrid. We increase battery capacity and add onsite renewable generation capacity like solar to grow our backup into the main source and then rely on the macrogrid as a backup. This further drives down the cost of energy for the community and stimulates growth in new businesses and quality of life for people living there.
Phase 4: Energy Independence
NFE exists as co-owner of the microgrid by selling the operational microgrid to an entity representing the community or to a group of members living in the community. This can be started during phases 1 to 3 by baking in lease-to-own economics into the energy as a service contract NFE has with the community.
Teaching others to do the same
Along the way, we are sharing everything about how and who we work with. How things work and offer training for those who want to learn so that others (especially the communities we serve) can run with the same vision.
And that’s all. Community Owned Microgrids in 4 Phases.
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