Planning Academy
About the Academy
The Community Microgrids Planning Academy was developed and is currently maintained and updated by the Center for Resilient Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, in cooperation with Greener by Design, LLC and the Regional Plan Association.
The Academy is an online educational platform created to educate municipal officials, their staffs, and other interested stakeholders on the value and potential feasibility of developing community microgrids in their jurisdictions.
The Academy is organized into five core topic areas, designed to be accessed in sequence for maximum benefit:
Basics
Foundational concepts: what microgrids are, their benefits, key components and where they fit in the broader energy landscape.
Development
Project initiation, site identification, and the first and second level screening processes used to evaluate candidate sites.
Planning
Technical and financial feasibility analysis, procurement pathways, and stakeholder coordination for community microgrids.
Tutorials
Short, focused walk-throughs of the core methods, tools and decisions that planners and municipal officials encounter.
Resources
A curated library of background reading, case studies, technical references and tools to support local government microgrid work.