Brooklyn Microgrid wants to increase the amount of renewable energy generated in the community by members of the community. Photo credit: Brooklyn Microgrid

Thanks to Ecowatch for this story:

Many U.S. cities have taken the lead on sustainability efforts, particularly when it comes to adopting renewable energy. Already, at least 13 U.S. cities—including San Diego; San Francisco; Burlington, Vermont; and Aspen, Colorado—have committed to 100 percent clean energy.

Other American cities, though not generating all their electricity from renewables, have innovative projects that could soon become widely adopted and transform our energy system.

Here are three cities leading the way:

Brooklyn Microgrid, a project of TransActive Grid, is developing a community microgrid in the Gowanus and Park Slope neighborhoods of Brooklyn that has the potential to disrupt the local energy market.

“Community microgrids are a new approach for grid operations that achieve a sustainable, secure, and cost-effective energy system by providing long-term, locally generated power security prioritized for the community,” the startup explained. “Microgrids have the ability to separate from the larger electric grid during extreme weather events or other emergencies, providing the backbone for resilient, sustainable and more efficient energy production of the future.”

The first version of the project connects solar energy producers with their neighbors who want to buy renewable energy. And the benefits are manyfold, according to TransActive Grid Co-founder Joseph Lubin.

“This whole concept benefits the area you live in,” Lubin told Treehugger. “By buying energy locally, rather than from a national entity, the money goes back into the pockets of people in the community. We’ll install the transactive platform which pretty much runs itself, whereby energy is automatically priced based on things consumers care about.

“It’s pretty hands off—as we think that will suit consumers best—but in future we plan to enable people to set preferences to maximize savings, do good in the community and potentially sell energy cheaper to lower-income residents.”

Watch TransActive Grid’s video for more information on the technology behind their microgrid:

Read the whole story here.