The historic Bronzeville district on Chicago’s Southside is the proposed location of ComEd’s first microgrid. The neighborhood has also been selected by the electric utility for a broader ComEd Smart Community of the Future initiative to pilot and deploy a range of smart city technologies.
We were commissioned to develop integrated resilience performance metrics for the microgrid and related modernization and smart city improvements.
The metrics we developed focus on the measurable and deliverable benefits of grid modernization initiatives such as the resilience of the electrical system, critical infrastructure and community as a whole. The project is one of our first endeavors to define integrated metrics covering all three areas.
Our Community of the Future smart city support includes development and implementation of strategies for stakeholder outreach and engagement related to ComEd’s own Community of the Future, smart city, grid modernization, and microgrid initiatives in Bronzeville.
The outreach approaches consider both general awareness and engagement related to the development of specific technology applications associated with grid improvements and the smart city investments. We also developed a detailed implementation approach that optimizes energy savings, prioritizes critical system upgrades, and targets smart city service enhancements to areas of high need.
The micro grid of now may become the smart standard bearer of the future with the Bronzeville initiative representing ComEd’s proof of concept as it develops a future-proof Community of the Future Smart City Plan.
