Energy Resilience

Existing and emerging threats to public safety including severe weather, and related climate change impacts, cyber and terror attacks have increased decision maker awareness of the need to support energy resilience policies, programs, and technologies at the state and local levels.

At the same time, a growing number of emergency management, national security, and clean energy practitioners are recognizing that substantial and growing investment in clean energy technology deployment - including solar, storage, and combined heat and power (CHP) - could help achieve energy resilience objectives, while simultaneously meeting economic development and climate goals.

Recognizing this synergy, MassCEC is committed to contributing to the Baker-Polito Administration’s community resilience goals by supporting cost effective clean energy solutions to energy resilience challenges that leverage state of the art technology, mobilize third party investment, surface new business and finance models, and help inform innovative energy resilience policy solutions.  

MassCEC Initiatives

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is pursuing a number of energy resilience pilots and initiatives.  Consistent with our mission, energy resilience efforts supported by MassCEC engage clean energy technologies and solutions on their own, or in combination with fossil fuel assets.  The initiatives described below include modifications to existing programs, and entirely new proposals, and either focus exclusively on resilience outcomes, or boost resilience among a range of other outcomes. 

Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage (ACES) Program: As part of the $10 million Energy Storage Initiative, MassCEC is providing funding for energy storage demonstration projects in Massachusetts.  Energy resilience is one of many energy storage benefits highlighted in the MassCEC/DOER State of Charge study, and program applicants are encouraged to include resilience where appropriate, among an array of non-monetizable benefits. 

Clean Energy and Resiliency (CLEAR) Program: MassCEC developed the CLEAR Program, which seeks to support community resiliency efforts that reduce GHG emissions, enable the integration of renewable energy sources, and provide energy resilience for critical facilities during electrical grid outages.

Resilient Service (Gas) Stations Challenge: MassCEC developed a request for proposals (RFP) under the Resilient Stations Challenge, a special round of its InnovateMass program. The RFP focused on projects that deployed commercially viable energy resilience technologies and demonstrated innovative and/or replicable business models while providing measureable energy resilience, risk management, clean energy and/or climate benefits to Massachusetts gas stations, enabling these facilities to provide critical goods and services to the communities they served during extended electric grid failures. Click here to view respondents to the Expressions of Interest survey.

Community Microgrids Program: MassCEC has developed a community microgrids program that will provide feasibility assessment grants through a competitive solicitation open to municipalities and their public works departments, electric distribution companies, municipal light plants, emergency services departments, owners of critical infrastructure such as hospitals and financial institutions, self-organized groups of commercial building owners, developers or any entity that either owns property within a proposed microgrid or can demonstrate that they represent stakeholders with the capability of developing a multi-user microgrid.

Related Activities:

Past MassCEC Investment in Energy Storage: Through a number of existing grant and investment programs, MassCEC has invested over $9.1 million in energy storage projects.

Community Clean Energy Resilience Act (Baker-Polito Administration): This $40 million initiative provides grants to projects focused on using clean energy technology to achieve municipal resilience.

Energy Storage Initiative (Baker-Polito Administration): This $10 million initiative is dedicated understanding and promoting the array of benefits that energy storage can provide for the grid, ratepayers, and the economy as a whole, in Massachusetts.

Grid Modernization (Department of Public Utilities): In 2014, the Department of Public Utilities issued an order requiring Massachusetts investor-owned utilities to develop and implement 10-year grid modernization plans.

Studies and Research:

Boston Community Energy Study (Boston Planning and Development Agency): MassCEC funded and contributed to this study, which raised awareness about energy infrastructure development opportunities in Boston, and identified 40 microgrid sites throughout the city.

State of Charge - Energy Storage Study (MassCEC and the Department of Energy Resources): A comprehensive study of energy storage opportunities in Massachusetts, outlining over $800 million in system benefits to Massachusetts ratepayers that could be captured by deploying storage.

Microgrids Study (MassCEC): Outlines benefits, barriers, and suggested policy initiatives to grow a microgrid market in Massachusetts.

Contact Information:

For any questions, please email Microgrids@masscec.com