City of Albuquerque, NM Joins MSL
MSL welcomes the City of Albuquerque (CABQ), NM to its Member consortium. CABQ is the first municipality to join MSL, and has distinguished itself in its programs and projects for sustainability, energy innovation, and grid modernization, including several planned municipal resilience microgrid projects. 
Albuquerque (a winner of the American Climate Cities Challenge) is a leader in equitable, long term environmental solutions. The City is committed to use 100% renewable energy for municipal operations by 2025, and is on track to be one of the top ten U.S. cities powered by renewable energy.
Current projects focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, low-carbon transportation, and reducing waste. Efforts are supported by a dedicated Sustainability Office, and a core team of sustainability champions across all departments, the “Green Team,” whose members commit to planning and carrying out sustainability initiatives in their departments.
A 2020 study by the Environment New Mexico Research & Policy Center named the City as #3 of America’s Top Shining Cities with most PV solar installed per capita, and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranked CABQ as 40th on the 2020 City Clean Energy Scorecard—and 5th most improved.
Collaborative Potential
CABQ has previously collaborated with MSL and the University of New Mexico (another MSL Member) on a proposal to design and prototype Rapid Response Mobile Microgrids that can be dispatched to vulnerable communities in the event of extended power outages; and on another proposal to integrate electrified mass transit and last-mile solutions with local renewables-powered microgrids.
The City is also in the process of applying for a Department of Energy Connected Communities grant with MSL Member Sandia National Laboratories and MSL Advisor Camus Energy. If funded, the project would create an interconnected system of grid-enabled buildings at the BioPark zoo able to respond to requests from the utility while self-consuming more renewable energy produced on-site.
In addition, CABQ’s energy specialist is evaluating four potential resilience microgrid projects, currently targeting sites at the ABQ Sunport airport, the Biopark zoo, a community center serving at-risk populations, and the 911 emergency call center.
As a leader in municipal sustainability and resilience practices and innovation, CABQ and MSL look forward to continuing and deepening their collaborative relationship in support of their shared goals.
You must be logged in to post a comment.