Find Posts By Topic

Seattle City Light awards contract for solar microgrid that will provide emergency backup power to Miller Community Center

Seattle City Light has awarded a $1.8 million contract to a team led by Worley to design and construct a solar microgrid at Miller Community Center, located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The public is invited to attend an informational meeting on July 10.

Miller Community Center – Seattle, WA

The solar microgrid project will include the installation of a battery energy storage system, solar panels and microgrid controls. Once installed, the microgrid will provide backup power storage for the community center during emergency events, such as a windstorm or unplanned power outage.

City Light and Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) selected Miller Community Center to host the $3.3 million demonstration project, after a careful assessment of sites. The project is funded through a $1.8 million investment from City Light and a $1.5 million state Clean Energy Fund grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce.

Design and construction of the new microgrid is scheduled to occur in early 2020. The University of Washington will gather analytics on the microgrid after it has been installed.

City Light and SPR are hosting an informational meeting to discuss details about the microgrid project on Wednesday, July 10 from 4-6 p.m. at Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112). Project staff will be available to answer questions about the project.

For more information about this project, please visit seattle.gov/light/atwork.

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to about 750,000 Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.