Concentric partnered with a technology firm to develop a Grid Modernization Plan for Fitchburg Gas & Electric (FG&E), the Massachusetts subsidiary of Unitil Corporation. Massachusetts was the first state in the country to mandate the filing of grid modernization plans. The filing demonstrates how FG&E will make progress in meeting the regulator’s four grid modernization goals:
- Reducing the effects of outages
- Optimizing demand
- Integrating distributed resources
- Improving workforce and asset management
Unitil filed a “practical” approach to pursuing grid modernization that focused on delivering value to customers, recognizing that the transformation of the electric industry was just beginning in 2015.
Our team guided the development of a five-year Short-Term Investment Plan (STIP) that screened fifty-two potential projects by applying Benefit-Cost Analyses, ultimately proposing sixteen capital investment projects, one non-capital project, and a research, development, and deployment (RDD) plan. These projects were categorized as Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Enablement, Grid Reliability, Distribution Automation, Customer Empowerment, or Workforce and Asset Management. The filing also included a Time-Varying Rate project and a discussion of DER compensation.
