According to a new report from Guidehouse Insights and commissioned by Civil Society Institute, Millennial Action Project and RMI show lasting impact on local economies and job growth from investing in renewable energy, battery storage, and controls for microgrids.
The new report from Guidehouse Insights brings to light the growth opportunity and the economic benefits of microgrids to create a perfect case study for the businesses, lawmakers, and various climate and renewable energy activists and advocates to invest time, efforts, and wealth to scale up implementation of microgrids. The reports predominantly focus on the growth of microgrids in the US for California and Puerto Rico, wherein there has been an increased level of power disruption caused by natural disasters leading to a direct impact on the local economies.
The microgrid is a solution for both climate resistance and economic resilience, somewhat like hitting two birds with the same stone. According to the report, every million USD invested in renewable energy microgrid assets will create $500k in overall economic benefits and address the job crisis issues creating 3.4 skilled jobs. Moreover, microgrids’ impact on the local economies is a clear indication that this is the most feasible method to achieve the regional climate objectives.
Key highlights of the report:
- California is forecasted to generate 166,000+ jobs, and Puerto Rico will create over 9,000 jobs by 2030.
- California is forecasted to generate over $22 billion in GDP, and Puerto Rico will generate over $1.2 billion in GDP by 2030.
- As of 2021, microgrids have created 4,670 and 163 jobs in California and Puerto Rico, respectively, and have contributed $850 M and $26.94 M in GDP in California and Puerto Rico.
- The capacity is expected to grow many folds in the coming years.
Microgrids are also making the local communities more self-reliant when managing power outages caused by extreme climate conditions. Doing that is also enabling economies to be both climate and economic resilience.
The data has demonstrated that microgrids using renewable energy can become a game-changer for the economy and for the environment
the report is available for download here. In addition, the viewable version is accessible on Vimeo here. Think Microgrid 2021.mp4 watch and share with others.
