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University senior briefs Rexburg City Council on microgrid options for resilience
Summary
A BYU‑Idaho senior presented microgrid technology to Rexburg City Council, outlining types, benefits, examples from other jurisdictions and a hypothetical pumped‑hydro and solar design sized to meet local daily demand; council members said they will monitor the technology for future planning.
Camillo Romon Madsen, a university senior, told the Rexburg City Council about microgrid technology during a capstone presentation, describing how microgrids store and manage electricity to keep local services running when the main grid is disrupted.
Madsen defined microgrids as systems combining local generation, storage and controls and described off‑grid, grid‑connected and nested microgrid models. He said applications range from rural community resilience to national defense and estimated typical capital costs "2 to $5,000,000 per megawatt," depending on location, size and complexity.
Using examples, he said San Diego Gas & Electric received an $8 million federal grant after a 2007 outage to add a local microgrid in Borrego Springs, which later powered critical services during a 2013 storm. He also described a 10‑megawatt solar and storage project on Prince Edward Island and a shipping‑container microgrid in Sterling, Massachusetts, that can power emergency dispatch for weeks.
Madsen outlined a hypothetical pumped‑hydro storage design and estimated it could store "over 37 gigawatts of electricity with a capacity of over 3,700 megawatts," and that roughly 0.53 square kilometers of solar photovoltaics would be needed to generate a single day's electricity for Rexburg (his presentation said the city needs about 1,100 megawatt‑hours daily). He cautioned the design still requires generation and noted space needs would likely increase when shading and layout are accounted for.
Council members asked whether utilities invest in microgrids and whether Idaho communities are pursuing projects. Madsen said Blaine County is pursuing a federal grant and that microgrids can reduce costs through load‑shifting and demand‑charge management. Council members thanked Madsen for the presentation and said the technology merits future consideration as municipal energy needs grow.
The presentation concluded with members saying staff will watch developments and revisit the concept if local needs or funding opportunities arise.
