NCSL
Moderator Daniel Shea is Program Principal - Energy at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Donald Wingate is VP Sales - Microgrid Solutions and Strategic Partners at Schneider Electric. Sam Cramer is Senior Program Director for the National Association of State Energy Officials. Leuwam Tesfai is Chief of Staff to Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma at the California Public Utilities Commission.
The National Conference of State Legislatures held a webinar in late April called, Microgrids: State and Industry Efforts to Enhance Energy Resilience. Microgrids are of interest due to their ability to provide customers with electricity even when grid outages occur.
Because microgrids operate in tandem with the electric grid during normal conditions, they are often left in regulatory and financial limbo. These panelists discussed technologies, financing options, and regulatory mechanisms states have pursued to break down barriers to facilitate microgrid development.
On the panel were Schneider Electric's vice president of sales for microgrid solutions and strategic partners Don Wingate, National Association of State Energy Officials senior program director Sam Cramer, and chief of staff and legal advisor to Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma at the California PUC, Leuwam Tesfai. It was moderated by Program Principal — Energy at National Conference of State Legislatures Daniel Shea. Enjoy these excerpts.
Moderator and Program Principal - Energy, National Conference of State Legislatures, Daniel Shea: With the growing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, microgrids are quickly gaining steam as a suite of technologies that can help businesses, communities, and even individual homeowners ride out costly disasters and utility outages.