Earlier this
year the Midwest utility company Ameren Corporation (AEE:
NSYE) announced it advanced distributed energy
microgrid located at the company’s technology center in Champaign,
Illinois. Those who follow the utility
industry or those who are particularly interested in electricity transmission
matters probably wonder what is so special about this news. There have been a slew of microgrid pilot
tests. For example, Duke Energy (DUK: NYSE) constructed a microgrid test
bed in Mount Holly, North Carolina to demonstrate plug-and-play
integration of its two dozen partner vendors.
Another example, is Southern California Edison’s (SCE: NYSE) grid edge pilot
in Orange County, California. There are other microgrid pilots underway at
Detroit Edison, CPS Energy and Oak Ridge Laboratory, to name just a few.
What is interesting for investors in the Ameren
microgrid pilot?