Ameren Microgrid Earns PEER Gold Certification for Advancing Resilient, Reliable and Sustainable Power Systems

CHICAGO, May 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) has awarded the Ameren microgrid a PEER Gold certification, the first microgrid in the world to achieve such recognition for performance excellence under PEER v2. PEER, or Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal, is a certification program that provides a comprehensive framework for defining high-performing power systems.

The $5 million microgrid facility, located at Ameren's Technology Applications Center (TAC) and adjacent to the University of Illinois campus in Champaign, Illinois, was designed and built through a collaboration of Ameren and S&C Electric Company.

"Ameren and S&C proved that reliable and resilient power systems are an essential piece of a healthy energy grid," said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and GBCI, the global certifying body for PEER and USGBC's LEED green building program. "We hope PEER will continue to inspire and support projects like the Ameren TAC Microgrid in addressing electricity demand, distribution, resiliency, and reliability as we work together to build a global 21^st century grid system."

Ameren Illinois' microgrid came online in May 2017 and has received international attention. The facility supports a 1-MW residential load through a variety of distributed generation sources, including solar, wind, natural gas, and battery storage. It is the only known microgrid in the nation capable of seamlessly transitioning the power source for an entire distribution circuit from exclusively distributed generation sources to the traditional grid. This concept, known as "islanding," enables Ameren to deliver up to 1 megawatt of residential load to live (paying) customers without experiencing an outage. Recently, the Ameren microgrid successfully tested 24-hour, renewable energy-only islanding.

"With the technologies we're testing at our Champaign microgrid, we're on the ground floor of a movement that will one day reshape how energy is produced and delivered to our customers," said Richard J. Mark, chairman and president, Ameren Illinois. "We're proud that our efforts, and those of our project partners, have been recognized with the prestigious PEER certification."  

Key criteria for determining PEER certification includes reliability and resiliency, energy efficiency and environment, operations and safety, and grid services. The certification recognizes systems that implement industry best practices and encourages the adoption of innovative strategies that improve efficiency, day-to-day reliability and overall resiliency. PEER was created in collaboration with industry leaders, such as S&C Electric Company, and is administered by GBCI. Similar to how LEED evaluates the design, construction and operations of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, PEER assesses utilities, campuses, cities, and transit for high-performing power systems proven to benefit the end customer.  

"When S&C teamed up with Ameren to design and build one of the most technically advanced utility microgrids, we knew we would be setting the stage for the future," said Mike Kilpatrick, vice president of U.S. Power Systems Solutions, S&C Electric Company. "The PEER certification proves our engineering expertise and demonstrates our ability to meet high standards for other progressive projects to come."

Ameren will receive its PEER certification at a ceremony at the Microgrid 2018 conference in Chicago on Tuesday, May 8. Previously awarded projects include: City of Chattanooga, Tenn.; University of Texas at Austin; Bucknell University, Lewisburg Penn.; and New York University Langone Health, New York, New York.

About Ameren Corporation:
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric distribution and transmission service, as well as natural gas distribution service, while Ameren Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service, with generating capacity of over 10,200 megawatts, and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops regional electric transmission projects. Follow the company on Twitter @AmerenCorp. For more information, visit Ameren.com.

About S&C Electric Company:
S&C, with global headquarters in Chicago, USA, is applying its heritage of innovation to address challenges facing the world's power grids and is thus shaping the future of reliable electricity delivery. The mission of employee-owned S&C is to continually develop new solutions for electricity delivery, fostering the improved efficiency and reliability required for the intelligent grid. Additional information about S&C is available at www.sandc.com. 

About Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI)
GBCI is the premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green business industry performance and practice globally. Established in 2008, GBCI exclusively administers project certifications and professional credentials and certificates within the framework of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems, as well as the PEER standard for power systems, the WELL building standard, the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), Parksmart, EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), TRUE Zero Waste certification, Investor Confidence Project (ICP) for energy efficiency retrofits and the GRESB benchmark, which is used by institutional investors to improve the sustainability performance of the global property sector. www.gbci.org

Contact:
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312-240-2868

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SOURCE S&C Electric Company