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V O L . X X V I N O. X I I I J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 2 0 20 E N E R G Y / E N V I RO N M E N T W hy spend $1.7 million to replace an old underwater cable supplying diesel power when you can build something new that's more cost- and energy-efficient? at's the philosophy behind a plan to build a so-called smart microgrid that will supply the midcoast island of Isle au Haut with solar power. e innovative system will use real-time pricing signals to balance supply and demand with real-time control of heat pumps and cost-effective energy storage. It's known as transactive energy, and over a 20-year time horizon will reduce consumer power costs by 17%, adjusted for inflation. Over that same period, houses with heat pumps will see an estimated 76% cut in carbon emissions compared to a normal fuel oil-heated house. Construction is slated to start this September using a design by Introspective Systems. e nine- employee Portland company is at the forefront of a clean-energy revolution that's starting with projects in remote communities like Isle au Haut but with great potential to make Maine's main power infrastructure statewide safer, greener and more affordable. "As we're electrifying more, I think grid planning and particularly microgrids are opportunities to become more stra- tegic," says Martin Grohman, execu- tive director of the Environmental and Energy Council of Maine, by phone from an electric car. While regulatory and financial obstacles will keep that from happen- ing overnight, small policy steps forward include a revived bill on microgrids (LD 13) sponsored by state Rep. Mick Devin, D-Newcastle, and a federal energy- storage bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. Innovators leading the charge As regulatory change lags, Maine-based companies including Introspective Systems and Ocean Renewable Power Co. Inc. are leading the move towards microgrids with projects in Maine and elsewhere. "ere's a lot of trends happening right now, and one is that people are looking at 'How do we make the electri- cal grid reliable and more resilient?'," says Kay Aikin, co-founder and CEO of Introspective Systems, now doing busi- ness as Dynamic Energy. As Maine makes the transition to 100% carbon-free energy by 2045 and moves away from fossil fuels and toward more renewables in a process known as beneficial electrification, "microgrids are a key part of that." A December 2019 report by New York-based market research and con- sulting firm Reports and Data backs that up, predicting the global smart grid market to reach $93 billion by 2025, from $22 billion in 2018. Technology-enabled microgrids are seen as a way to lower electricity costs in the long run and get more power from clean-energy sources. Nationwide, the majority of microgrids operating today are pilot projects or R&D experiments, with remote areas accounting for more than half of the market (54%) as shown in F O C U S S O U R C E : Navigant Research, 4Q 2015 TOTAL MICROGRID POWER CAPACITY MARKET SHARE BY SEGMENT, WORLD MARKETS Direct Current: 0% Commercial/Industrial: 5% Military: 6% Institutional/Campus: 9% Community: 13% Utility Distribution: 13% Remote: 54% Kay Aikin, co-founder and CEO of Introspective Energy Systems, at the firm's office at 148 Middle St. in Portland. It's now doing business as Dynamic Energy to better reflect its work designing dynamic energy controls using artificial intelligence. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Momentum grows for 'smart' electricity microgrids in Maine B y r e n e e c o r d e S Plugging in Plugging in

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