Duke Energy received a lot of attention last week for powering an entire town — Hot Springs, North Carolina — with a microgrid. But the project’s real significance may lie in demonstrating a technology breakthrough that could open a new door to green energy for other communities.
First, some background. A remote mountain town of about 500-600 people, Hot Springs, gets power from the electric grid via a 10-mile, 22.86 kV feeder prone to extended outages.
Duke Energy — the town’s utility — considered building a second feeder line to fix the problem but determined that a microgrid made more sense because, unlike a new line, the microgrid would not disrupt miles of scenic and environmentally sensitive terrain. The North Carolina Utilities Commission agreed and approved the microgrid in 2019.
