Village Of Ossining Gains $100K In State Microgrid Contest

OSSINING, N.Y. – The village of Ossining has been named a winner in the NY Prize Microgrid Competition, a first-in-the-nation $40 million competition to help communities in New York create microgrids.

An example of the microgrid technology that will be studied in Ossining.
Photo Credit: *Contributed*

Robert Berczuk

07/20/2015 4:30 a.m.

As one of 23 communities in the Mid-Hudson region selected, the village will receive $100,000 to complete a feasibility assessment for the creation of a stand-alone energy system that can operate independently in the event of a power outage, according to a press release.

The village’s feasibility assessment will evaluate a project to construct a community microgrid to serve several vital facilities within the village during an emergency, according to a press release. The proposed microgrid would draw power from combined heat and power, solar and energy storage, and would provide electricity to such critical facilities as the Birdsall-Fagan Police & Court Facility, Ossining Fire Department headquarters, several water facilities, the Ossining Union Free School District, the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center, Sing Sing Prison, the John Paul Rodrigues Operations Center, and Cablevision Hub and Dispatch Operations, according to a press release.

“Ossining has made smart investments in emergency backup systems for our infrastructure,” said Mayor Victoria Gearty in a press release. “We’ve been a leader in energy efficiency, solar installations and energy choice aggregation. Pursuing this opportunity for a microgrid is a wise next step toward energy independence and resiliency.”

The severity of past storms, such as hurricanes Irene and Sandy, have led the village to aggressively invest in systems to support electric supply to critical facilities during outages. Ossining also has implemented several efficiency initiatives, such as LED streetlights, energy efficiency upgrades, the municipal solar buying program and municipal energy aggregation.

The proposed NY Prize project focuses on leveraging these initiatives into a community resiliency microgrid that will add higher levels of renewable energy, energy storage, combined heat and power, building load control, and advanced microgrid control strategies, according to a press release.

To learn more about NY Prize and the competition structure, visit www.nyserda.ny.gov/ny-prize.

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