BRUNSWICK

A bill allowing for municipalities to create microgrids is making its way through the Maine Legislature.

The bill proposes to “establish measures to allow municipalities, working cooperatively with electrical utilities, to create microgrids.” Microgrids are electricity distribution systems that can work in parallel or independently from the main power grid.

LD 257’s sponsor, Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle, said Tuesday that a microgrid wouldn’t have prevented the power outage resulting from a wind storm on Oct. 30, but would have minimized the time that people were without power.

Devin warned that Maine is lagging behind while other states are developing their microgrids.

“If we had received the brunt of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, we would have been having this conversation in 2013,” he said.

Storms are becoming more extreme and more frequent, Devin said, as will outages.

The main hurdle his bill faces is allowing municipalities and communities with microgrids to take their power across a public way.

Electric utilities, including Central Maine Power Co., don’t own the right of way, but have a monopoly right to it.

Another issue is operating in “island mode.” Devin said a microgrid can either receive electricity or supply the general grid with electricity, but it can’t happen now.

And if you’re providing power to the main grid, he said, “how do you get compensated for that?”

“There’s really no mechanism for that because that metering is going away,” Devin said.

While it will be a sticking point, he said it’s not an insurmountable challenge.

Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, spoke to the committee last week about the microgrid project at Brunswick Landing. The concept of a renewable energy center at Brunswick Landing uses a microgrid as a living laboratory for the application of new technologies for generation and management of renewable power. According to MRRA, it has already begun attracting clean technology businesses.

“Obviously what we’re doing is very interesting and some of what we’re trying to do may obviously be considered as part of their bill,” Levesque said, “but it’s still very much a concept bill.”

MRRA took over running the electrical distribution system on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. It is currently allowed to have an electric district within Brunswick Landing, but that is specific to MRRA’s statute and may require tweaking.

Per MRRA’s interconnect agreement with CMP, Levesque said, should the utility need to go down, MRRA would shut its microgrid down so it won’t backfeed CMP’s system and electrocute people working on the lines.

“But those are technical details that can be worked out,” he said.

Microgrid goal

The goal is for the microgrid to be able to fully function as an island down the road.

Without new policy in place to allow microgrids elsewhere in Maine, Devin said, “investment is not going to be forthcoming.”

Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, is the House chair on the EUT committee. He believes there is broad interest among committee members in changing statute with respect to the conveyance of electricity across public ways.

“There’s probably more division on the committee as to whether we should actually create incentives for the purpose of grid resiliency,” Berry said. “I think those of us who are interested in seeing some pilots happen would like to provide some incentives to pay for a limited version of implemented costs.”

Devin’s bill was introduced in the last legislative session, but was continued because of the complexity involved.

“It’s not just a matter of tweaking the law,” he said. “We’re actually creating a new type of power generation, or at least the policy for it.”

The Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology last week discussed changes to the existing law needed to allow microgrids, as well as the potential for incentives to encourage development.

Language for the bill is still being drafted and will be introduced to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology sometime after the Legislature reconvenes on Jan. 3.