Big Microgrid in Bronzeville

Deck: 

Exelon

Byline: 

Honghao Zheng et al.

Fortnightly Magazine - November 2023
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Exelon subsidiary ComEd, based in Chicago, began its Community of the Future program in 2016 with the Bronzeville Community Microgrid in Chicago's South Side, the first utility operated microgrid cluster. It's about to become fully operational in December.

The footprint of the microgrid includes more than one thousand residences, businesses, and public institutions, including customers providing critical public services such as headquarters of the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, as well as hospitals. It's a fascinating project in many ways too, allowing the utility to demonstrate many advanced grid technologies, while clustering with the microgrid operated by Illinois Tech. 

That's all happening in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood, the center of intellectual, artistic, and political contributions by Black Americans in Chicago. Public Utilities Fortnightly's Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief journeyed there to see firsthand how ComEd is taking Chicago into the future. Come along with us.

Ryan Burg, Taiwo Sainab Ninalowo, Honghao Zheng

PUF's Lori Burkhart: What are the benefits of microgrid technology?

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