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North America / Commercial & demonstration

Long Beach Microgrid Feasibility Study

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations10
System facts27
Sources reviewed5
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The City of Long Beach community microgrid was a 2016 NY Prize Stage 1 feasibility design, not an operating system. The concept linked civic, police, fire, water, wastewater, transit, housing, and shelter facilities with natural-gas generation, 300 kW of PV, 100 kW of battery power, and existing diesel backup. It was technically feasible in the study but economically dependent on resilience value and incentives; Long Beach is absent from NYSERDA's official Stage 2 award list, and no construction or commissioning evidence was found.

Research status
Stage 1 feasibility study completed; unbuilt. Long Beach appears in NYSERDA's Stage 1 roster but not among the eleven Stage 2 awards. Classification as not advanced is an inference from the official award records plus the absence of subsequent construction or operating documentation.
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
40.58962, -73.66639
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 Long Beach Microgrid Feasibility Study?

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

Organization

City of Long Beach

NY Prize applicant, sponsor, and owner/host of most proposed critical facilities [2][3]

Organization

Industrial Economics, Inc.

Prepared the standardized NY Prize benefit-cost analysis [2]

Organization

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Provided DER-CAM optimization modeling used in the feasibility analysis [2]

Organization

LIRR

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

Organization

Long Beach Housing Authority

Host/stakeholder for Channel Park Homes and the Michael Valente housing complex [2]

Organization

Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Long Island Rail Road

Critical transportation-load stakeholder at Long Beach station [2]

Organization

NRG Energy

Feasibility-team lead and prospective third-party project developer [2]

Organization

NYSERDA

NY Prize Stage 1 funder and program administrator [2][3][4]

Organization

PSEG

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

Organization

PSEG Long Island / Long Island Power Authority

Electric distribution utility, interconnection authority, and feeder-data stakeholder [2]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

Storage
NA [1]
Natural-gas distributed generation
100 kW CHP at the Ice Arena, 500 kW fuel cell at the wastewater-treatment node, and 250 kW generator at the water-treatment plant [2]
Dual-fuel generation
Proposed conversion of an existing 660 kW diesel generator to natural-gas/diesel dual-fuel operation [2]
Solar generation
Two proposed 150 kW PV systems, one at Channel Park Homes and one at the Ice Arena, totaling 300 kW [2]
Battery storage
Two proposed 50 kW systems, 100 kW total. The report does not specify energy capacity or duration; its model assigns about 23.3 MWh/year of throughput to each [2]
Additional backup generation
550 kW of existing diesel standby capacity, comprising 100 kW and 450 kW units, not initially integrated into normal dispatch [2]
Aggregate resource capacity
Approximately 1.91 MW of primary proposed/converted generation and storage power. The report also cites about 2.54 MW available when backup resources and controllable load are included [2]
Study-area load
7,665,824 kWh/year, 1,646 kW coincident peak, and 1,898 kW non-coincident peak [2]
Thermal load
Approximately 770,449 kWh/year with a 186 kW peak [2]
Controllable demand
Approximately 80 kW available for prioritized load shedding [2]
Benefit-cost result
Without outages the modeled net benefit was negative US$8.46 million and benefit-cost ratio 0.5; at 0.9 outage days/year the model reached about US$675,000 net benefit, a 1.0 ratio, and 7.7% internal rate of return [2]

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

Combined heat and power

Model not publicly disclosed

Proposed 100 kW natural-gas CHP at the Ice Arena, modeled at 768.252 MWh/year and 12.85 MMBtu/MWh heat rate; supplier was not selected [2]

02

Fuel cell

Model not publicly disclosed

Proposed 500 kW natural-gas fuel cell at the wastewater-treatment node, modeled at 3,157.98 MWh/year and 7.26 MMBtu/MWh; supplier and technology subtype were not finalized [2]

03

Natural-gas generator

Model not publicly disclosed

Proposed 250 kW set at the water-treatment plant, modeled at 788.4 MWh/year and 12.18 MMBtu/MWh [2]

04

Dual-fuel generator

Model not publicly disclosed

Existing 660 kW diesel set proposed for conversion to natural gas/diesel, modeled at 1,130.04 MWh/year and 8.15 MMBtu/MWh [2]

05

Photovoltaics

Model not publicly disclosed

Two proposed 150 kW arrays, each modeled at 550.128 MWh/year; manufacturers were not selected [2]

06

Battery storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Two proposed 50 kW systems for black start, frequency response, PV integration, and dispatch optimization; chemistry, kWh, manufacturer, and model were not defined [2]

07

Microgrid control

Model not publicly disclosed

Conceptual controller integrated with building-energy-management systems, DER dispatch, fast load shedding, protection, and a 15 kV-class connecting line; final vendor was not selected [2]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • General

    The proposed microgrid would include combined heat and power, fuel cell, solar, and energy storage, combined with demand-management technology. [1]

  • Generation

    The proposed microgrid would include combined heat and power, fuel cell, solar, and energy storage. [1]

  • Critical facilities

    The design covered City Hall, police and fire functions, wastewater and water treatment, Channel Park Homes/Michael Valente housing, the Ice Arena shelter, Long Beach LIRR station, and selected feeder loads. [2]

  • Architecture

    A community-scale 15 kV-class network would coordinate multiple utility feeders and facility nodes, island from the PSEG Long Island system, and prioritize critical loads during outages. [2]

  • Operating strategy

    The fuel cell and CHP were modeled as high-utilization resources, PV and batteries as variable/fast assets, and diesel or dual-fuel generators as resilience and peaking resources. [2]

  • Black start

    Battery systems and standby generators were intended to establish local voltage and frequency, restart other DER, and bridge transitions into islanded service. [2]

  • Energy mix

    The design was primarily natural-gas generation with smaller solar and battery components, plus diesel backup. All annual-output values are planning-model results, not measured generation. [2]

  • Feasibility conclusion

    The study found the project technically feasible but financially dependent on incentives, third-party structures, and the assumed frequency/severity of grid outages. [2]

  • Outcome

    The project is present on the official Stage 1 list and absent from the Stage 2 list, supporting classification as an unbuilt feasibility concept. [3][4]

Provenance

5 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 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    City of Long Beach NY Prize Stage 1 Feasibility Study

    NYSERDA / City of Long Beach · Primary source

  3. [3]
    NY Prize Stage 1 Award Winners

    NYSERDA · Primary source

  4. [4]
    NY Prize Stage 2 Awarded Projects

    NYSERDA · Primary source

  5. [5]
    Long Beach Microgrid Feasibility Study (archived legacy record)

    Microgrid Projects / Internet Archive · Archived source

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