MONTICELLO, NY — The villages of Monticello and Liberty will each receive $100,000 to pay for a feasibility study regarding proposals to build microgrids in those locations. The news was announced at a meeting of the Sullivan County Agriculture and Sustainability Committee on July 9 by Stephen Stuart and Carol Roig, who are with the Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that 83 communities in the state are receiving such grants as part of a program called NY Prize, which is part of Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy.

The U.S. Department of Energy defines microgrid as a “localized grid that can disconnect from the traditional grid to operate autonomously and help mitigate grid disturbances to strengthen grid resilience…”

“New Yorkers have first-hand experience regarding the need for resilient and efficient power systems that can withstand whatever Mother Nature has in store for us,” Cuomo said. “This funding will help communities across New York invest in these new systems, which will ensure critically important institutions such as police and fire stations, hospitals and schools can continue operating during and in the aftermath of an extreme weather event.”

Along with allowing communities to maintain power during wide-spread power outages, microgrids can also help utilities on days of high power demand by reducing the amount of energy drawn from the main grid and providing additional power when needed.

According to Cuomo’s office, the microgrid competition has generated a lot of interest in the state, with more than 130 cities, villages, towns and municipalities submitting proposals for this round of grants.

All winning projects would be integrated into utility networks and serve multiple customers, including at least one “critical infrastructure” customer, such as a hospital, police station, fire station or water treatment facility.

After the feasibility studies are complete in six to eight months, the 83 communities that received support for feasibility studies may move on to Stage 2 of the competition, in which they will apply for detailed engineering support. In Stage 3, the final competition stage, NY Prize funding will be made available for project construction; both Stage 2 and Stage 3 will involve a local cost-share.