The military is turning to microgrids to fight global threats — and global warming
[...]
It makes enough sense that it's official Department of Defense policy: The Pentagon's stated goal is that all bases be "power resilient." The best path to resilience in case of a disaster is often a local renewable source, and that pairs well with another Pentagon goal — for bases to be carbon neutral by 2050. That will keep key defense capabilities intact in the case of an attack on the U.S. power grid, or more likely an extreme weather event, as climate change worsens droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and storms.
[...]
Miramar is also demonstrating how microgrids in the military can make the civilian power-grid more resilient. It can provide a working headquarters during storms or heatwaves for the state or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to Col. Bedell.
"Our ability to be able to continue to operate and provide that base from which we could help the local community or the state is really important," he said.
It makes sense for every state to have disaster-resilient grids on military bases, he said, and Miramar has already helped out. During a heatwave in 2022, the state energy grid was under the heaviest load in California's history. This time, Bedell got a surprise text from San Diego Gas & Electric asking if Miramar could go off city power to reduce the load and avoid outages.
"At the request of SDG&E, we turned on the micro grid to support our own utility requirements during peak hours for 10 days in a row. And that that prevented about 3,000 homes from having to go into potential blackout," said Bedell.
[...]