Santa Rosa Junior College Microgrid Demonstration Project: Demonstrating the Business Case for Advanced Microgrids in Support of California’s Energy and Climate Policies

In California and nationwide, electricity distribution infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather and natural disasters, including wildfires that are being made more frequent and severe because of climate change. The Sonoma County Junior College District, in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Energy, Worley, and PXiSE Energy Solutions LLC, and with funding from the California Energy Commission, conducted a microgrid demonstration project at the Santa Rosa Junior College campus. The project began in 2019 with modelling, engineering design, and baseline measurement and ran through 2026 with procurement, installation, commissioning, operational measurement and evaluation, and project reporting. The microgrid integrated three types of distributed energy resources — photovoltaic generation, electrical energy storage, and flexible load control systems, all managed by a single microgrid controller. 

The goals of this project were to (1) supply up to 40 percent of the campus electricity use with local renewable energy, (2) optimize energy use and reduce the monthly peak electricity demand and associated charges for the campus, and (3) increase campus and local community resilience by supporting local facilities during outages while providing broader grid benefits through flexible operations. 

The project validated multiple value streams of the Santa Rosa Junior College campus microgrid, including $670,000 in annual cost savings, a monthly reduction of 1,740 kilowatts, and a reduction of 1,591 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions. The project served as a blueprint for other campuses in the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California systems.