Amid growing concerns about energy supplies and costs, water service reliability, and climate impacts, U.S. water and wastewater utilities are increasingly compelled to consider nontraditional approaches to operations stability, including backup power supplies. Still early in their adoption, particularly among water and wastewater utilities, microgrids are emerging as a potential path to more reliable system operations.

In addition to reliability, the realization that cities and utilities are increasingly contributing to climate change, representing as much as 2% of global emissions, is finding its way into municipal planning documents. Out of the 50 largest U.S. cities by population size, Bluefield Research has identified 35 cities with climate action plans and evaluated their greenhouse emissions and water management positions. Currently, 24 cities in the U.S. identify microgrids as a solution to meet climate action planning goals. These cities’ strategies are key indicators of current and future shifts in municipal climate change mitigation strategies, including new technology deployment, industry partnerships, and sustainability goals.