ABSTRACT
Although historically marginal, the role for microgrids in modern electric power systems may be expanding, as policymakers in diverse jurisdictions are calling for microgrids to foster a more distributed, resilient, and cleaner power grid. To date, however, microgrids have largely relied on inexpensive fossil fuels, while low- and zero-carbon options face technical and economic hurdles that constrain broad deployment today. This chapter provides a long-term perspective on the management of microgrids, contrasting private economic decision-making for technology and fuel use with farsighted societal goals for limiting climate change. It presents microgrids in the historical context, surveys new deployments emerging today, and then looks to the future—presenting the benefits, opportunities for, and limitations of decarbonization pathways for microgrids. Focus herein is given to the U.S. experience, although the relevance of pathways is not bound geographically per se.
