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Dear Editor;
The sooner there are microgrid development plans for the towns near proposed new transmission projects, the sooner the influence of microgrids could be considered by the Public Service Commission. A definition of a micro-grid is: "a small network of electricity users with a local source of supply that is usually attached to a centralized national grid but is able to function independently." "The US DoE Smart Grid R&D Program considers microgrids as a key building block for a Smart Grid and has established microgrid R&D as a key focus area."
Town microgrids would demand less electricity from a transmission grid, and microgrids could sell surplus electricity to a utility grid. Town microgrids could be self-sufficient, and be electrified if the utility grid goes down.
The UW-Platteville began a renewable energy micro-grid undergrad student study for Dodgeville in 2016. And a few slides from their reports are planned to be reviewed at a presentation in the Dodgeville Public Library, Sept. 27, 2018 at 2 p.m. The UW-Platteville professors welcomed the request for this project, and they may well welcome microgrid student project requests by individuals and officials from other towns as well. The microgrid studies at UW-Platteville were a positive beginning, and encouragement for continuing.

Joel H. Goodman
Dodgeville, Wisconsin