![]() The process starts by performing a deep-dive analysis of a building's use of energy, retrofitting it to maximize efficiency. Microgrid system designer David Dayton, in an underground tunnel connecting Chelsea City Hall with the city's 911 dispatch center. His group, Resilient Urban Neighborhoods, has teamed up with several local environmental nonprofits, including Chelsea's GreenRoots, to bring the system to local communities. How microgrids workĭayton designed the unique cloud-based control system at the heart of the new microgrids. Kooloian is one of several city officials who supports the community's effort to make the power supply more climate resilient. "We were in here operating with portable radios and flashlights." "The whole city shut down traffic lights, street lights," he said. Paul Kooloian, Chelsea's 911 dispatch supervisor, surrounded by electronic equipment in the basement of the dispatch center. "We lost complete power, everything," said Paul Kooloian supervisor of the city's 911 dispatch. He's worked in the emergency response office for 38 years and still vividly remembers that day. The need for resilient power was dramatically demonstrated in 2000, when a major power outage hit the city. "Low income folks have no voice and they don't have a say in the source of their energy, the location of substations, how is distributed, how it's priced," he said. The microgrids have two goals, according to David Dayton, the engineer who designed the systems: to power buildings and empower people on the front line of climate change. "We are a coastal community," says Maltez, "when a climate crisis hits Chelsea, city hall is going to have its lights on." The city's plans to build a cloud-based microgrid is designed to ensure the most vulnerable residents of this city are protected if the electric grid goes dark. "We know that, in a climate disaster, these are the residents that are going to be impacted." Chelsea Commissioner of Public Works Fidel Maltez in the switching room in the basement of City Hall. "We have over 20% of our residents who live below the poverty line," Maltez said. Chelsea is the smallest city in the state but carries an outsized environmental burden All of Logan Airport's jet fuel is stored in or near the city, as is most of the state's road salt and the region's oil heat fuel.Ĭhelsea's Commissioner of Public Works, Fidel Maltez, said the time to act is now. It's the only municipality in the state where every neighborhood is designated an environmental justice population. Those warning signs are clear to Chelsea city officials. Operators of the nation's regional power grids say we need to fortify our electric transmission systems to withstand the storms of the future. That need was on vivid display last month, when a nor'easter clobbered Massachusetts, leaving more than half a million residents without power - some for up to four days. A tale of two cities confronting climate changeĪs climate change worsens, storms are expected to become more frequent and intense. The systems planned for the two communities are cloud-based software, so the buildings included in the microgrids won't need to physically connect to control their backup power. Department of Defense has led the effort to make its facilities more resilient to climate change by constructing the self-contained systems at bases around the world. Emergency response engineers call this "islanding," because the mini-systems act as energy islands that keep the lights on during those peak demand hours. Microgrids are comprised of batteries and backup diesel generators that are switched on when main power from the electric grid fails. ![]() The system's developer believes the building-by-building projects will be more robust, resilient to climate change disasters, and will empower local residents in their energy future. The two environmental justice communities will soon begin construction of the nation's first cloud-based microgrids. ![]() (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)Ĭhelsea and Chinatown are worried about the big picture when it comes to climate change and energy resilience. To address the problems they face, officials and advocates are thinking small. Facebook Email Chelsea's 911 dispatch center and city hall on Washington Ave. ![]()
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