In a new report prepared for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, these microgrids — once touted as a way to increase the resiliency of the electrical network in the wake of extreme storms and widespread power outages — are finding it increasingly difficult to overcome financial, regulatory and legal barriers.
“These microgrids right now are more aspirational and are very hard to accomplish,’’ said Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director of Rutgers’ Bloustein Local Government Research Center and the author of the report “Development of Local Government Resilient Microgrids.”
“It’s the regulatory structure,’’ he added. “We never developed a model to accommodate this type of project.’’