NRECA Annual Meeting
Joe Brannan is the CEO of North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. Jeff Wadsworth is the CEO of Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association. Paul Spruill is the CEO of the Tideland Electric Member Corp.
Ten CEOs of cooperative utilities sat down with PUF in one of three roundtable discussions at NRECA’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans. In this roundtable, the CEOs of North Carolina Membership Corporation, Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, and Tidelands Electric Member Corporation talked with us about microgrids and resilience.
PUF: What's so important about microgrids to your utilities and to your communities?
Jeff Wadsworth: We're dabbling in microgrids in our area of Poudre Valley REA. We have approximately forty-five thousand meters about an hour north of Denver. We serve the front range of the mountains, which includes an interstate corridor, and into mountain areas.
It's the ability to create a microgrid in our mountain service territory that's going to enable us to continue service during any type of natural disaster or anything that may happen. We will be able to provide 24/7 power to fire districts, libraries, broadband, and any other critical businesses. The microgrid project we're currently working on will include a grocery store, and a gas station. We want to be able to sustain that area in the event of a major power outage.
We've seen tornadoes, fires, floods, and we're ready for the locusts. What we're trying to do is ensure we can provide service, and for members, provide a place for them to have year round power.