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North America / Island & remote community

Blue Lake Rancheria Microgrid

Organizations, planners, suppliers, equipment, controls, and reported system specifications—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations19
System facts11
Sources reviewed4
Last researched2026-07-19

Blue Lake Rancheria's community-scale microgrid entered service in 2017 and combines solar, battery storage, legacy backup generation, building controls, and islanding capability.

Research status
Operational; community-scale system commissioned in 2017
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
40.88355, -123.99866
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Blue Lake Rancheria Microgrid?

19 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Blue Lake Rancheria

Owner, operator, and co-funder [3][2]

Organization

California Energy Commission

Regulator and EPIC grant funder [3]

Organization

California Public Utilities Commission

Regulatory participant [3]

Organization

Colburn Electric

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Dark Sky (Apple)

Project vendor listed by the owner team [3]

Organization

Grid Alternatives

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Idaho National Laboratory

Research, testing, and commissioning participant [3]

Organization

INL

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Kernen Construction

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Research participant [3]

Organization

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Research participant [3]

Organization

NREL

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Utility and project vendor/partner [3]

Organization

PG&E

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

REC Solar

Solar vendor [3]

Organization

Schatz Energy Research Center

Integration engineering lead [3]

Organization

Siemens

Microgrid controls supplier [4][3]

Organization

SunPower

Solar vendor [3]

Organization

Tesla

Battery-system vendor [3]

System evidence

Reported capacity and specifications

Values can describe different project phases or components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
500 [1]
KW Fuel Cell
175 [1]
Storage
950 KWH [1]
Verified solar array
420 kW PV [2]
Verified battery system
500 kW / 950 kWh [2]
Backup generation
1 MW generator [4]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Microgrid controller

Siemens — Spectrum Power 7 MGMS

Coordinates the solar, storage, generator, loads, and islanded operation. [4]

02

Battery energy storage

Tesla

500 kW / 950 kWh battery energy storage system. [2][3]

03

Solar PV

SunPower / REC Solar

420 kW community-scale array; the owner team lists SunPower and REC Solar among project vendors. [2][3]

Recovered detail

Additional technical notes

Concise system facts recovered from the historical project record. Treat these as historical unless a newer primary source confirms them.

  • Generation

    Biomass-gasification-fuel cell system that turns biomass into electricity. [1]

  • Generation

    The 175 kilowatt (kW) system is fueled by biomass (plant-based biological material) that has been reduced to sawdust size. [1]

Provenance

4 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-02-28

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Illustrative Microgrid Partnerships: Blue Lake Rancheria

    U.S. Department of Energy / Blue Lake Rancheria · Primary source

  4. [4]

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