Connecticut to offer new funding for microgrid projects

Connecticut”™s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is allocating a new round of funding for microgrid projects designed to provide power to critical government, public safety and private sector facilities in the event the electric grid goes down.

This is the fourth round of Microgrid Program funding since 2012, and qualifying projects may receive a capital grant up to $4 million from DEEP and a term loan of up to $2 million from the Connecticut Green Bank. Projects in an area that received assistance from the USDA Rural Community Energy Assistance Program may qualify for up to an additional $2 million capital grant. Applications for this funding round are being accepted between Sept. 1, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018.

Over the past five years, DEEP has issued $20.5 million in grants for 10 projects. Within Fairfield County, microgrid funding has been granted to Bridgeport, the town of Fairfield and the University of Bridgeport.