Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid

DevelopmentSanyakhu-Sheps AmaréExecutive Director, Phoenix Communities, Inc.Benoit Hardy-Vallée, PhD NECST—Northern Eastern Electricity Community Systems and Technology Phoenix Communities, Advisory Board Member

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

The Needs of the Energy Economy in the 21st century

• Increase supply of electrical energy• Reduce carbon footprints• Meet municipal requirement for

more “Green” energy generation• Address failure of the Public

Utilities to stem the tide of “black- and brownouts” and pollution

• Manage an aging, centralized grid

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that worldwide electric power generation will grow 2.4% a year between 2004 and 2030. Compounded over that period, this small annual increase will cause generation to nearly double by 2030

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

The Micro-Grid—a New “Electronomics” Paradigm

• Micro-level infrastructure – to increase capacity to handle peak demands; – reduce or eliminate incidents of wide area power outages– help prevent local business losses– new electrical products and services

• More direct community involvement with development of their own energy generation infrastructure systems and facilities, i.e., an “ownership” stake

• Beginning with housing complexes (federal/state, NYC Housing Authorities, Tenant-owned complexes, sub-divisions; major cultural, medicinal, educational, and recreational facilities

• Utilization of smart-grid technology to manage distribution and load at the community level

MICRO-GRID: “A small-scale power supply network that is designed to provide energy for a small community”

- Ingenia Magazine Issue 24, Sep 2005

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

Small Is Beautiful• As Micro-Grids are developing, some

can be linked together, in effect, causing the development of “Integrated Micro-Grid Sections”, with more flexibility options for energy availability, reliability and distribution.

• New Deal partnerships with existing Public Utilities including

• More financial incentives for the business community to invest in electrical micro grid development

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

The CED Electrical micro-grid paradigm: Community Grids

• Consumers become partners in the formation of the new grid companies– benefit from the projected consumer

savings– receive a percentage of project

revenue streams, depending on local state laws.

• Green collar training– opportunities and apprenticeships by

being employed to help build the grid and run its operations

• Thought Leadership– Establishment of a new Think Tank/

Clearing house on micro-grids: NECST—Northern Eastern electricity Community Systems and Technology

– Headquarted in Toronto, ON.

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

Community Grids equal new customers and new business partners, and job training

A new paradigm

Some barriers…

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development

• Lack of connectivity standards to the Macro-Grids• Lack of a reliable economic model for micro-grid deployment• Public Utilities lack of cooperation to give up market share to

stimulate development in the micro-grid arena• Micro-Gas Turbines (CHP’s) are not included, oftentimes, as a

“renewable” technology. While Gas itself is not considered a renewable energy source, the use of gas-driven micro-turbines to generate energy is green. Micro-turbines capture the heat given off by the generating process, enabling entire building complexes to shut down their oil-based boilers entirely, which eliminates a significant carbon footprint!

• Lack of educational awareness of the projected benefits of electrical micro grids

• Lack of demonstration projects to see and know and not just postulate

• State Laws—some state regulation prohibits who can generate energy, etc. and some states have no laws for micro-grid applications

Acknowledgements• Kevon Makell our Advisor Board member, from PureNERGY and subsidiary of Bermuda’s

electrical company BELCO, who did the most amazing thing in our very first meeting, he concretized our discovery of the link between community economic development and electrical micro grids 2 years ago and we haven’t looked back since.

• David Sharp our other Advisor Board Member, who discovered the link between Mission Investing to our CED electrical micro-grid projects; and who with his very busy schedule found the time to help Phoenix Communities position its micro-grid project(s) to investors and foundations

• To John Nelson whom I met in 1996 at SNHU doing my masters in CED. He worked then for NCCED. John has echoed the exact sentiments of David Sharp and has embraced Phoenix in a tight hug slowing us down while we focus on our business and strategic plan develop, that we may be able to present an attractive investment profile to social energy investors and the mission investing community, moving from idea to demonstration.

• Stephen Bradberry, RFK, Jr. Memorial Foundation ’05 Awardee and ACORN Regional Midwest Director, for helping us continually keeping us grounded to the community level for our micro-grid projects. It was thru Stephen that we are beginning conversations with the New Orleans housing authorities and have attracted the interest people to serve on our advisor board

• To Benoit Hardy-Vallée, PhD from of Toronto, Canada, the City of Gatherings We are forming the North Eastern Electricity Community Systems and Technology, Benoit calls it NEXT! This will be an internet think tank hub on electrical micro-grid clearinghouse publishing scientific and CED social impact papers on Micro-Grids. The first paper we are discussing to be developed is on the need for governments and municipalities to simultaneously include in their national and regional grid infrastructural upgrade equal focus Micro-grids development

Community Economic Development/Revitalization, Utilizing Electrical Micro Grid Development