Bronzeville unveils community solar power micro-grid array to provide electricity in emergencies

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago and state leaders said the Bronzeville solar power micro-grid is one of the first in the country, and will power the neighborhood in the event of a major power outage.

Hundreds of solar panels are packed into multiple ground arrays that will power the new community-level energy resilience.

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"Today is about the future of Bronzeville. Bronzeville is now home to one of the nation's first neighborhood scale micro-grids," said Gil Quiniones, ComEd CEO.

Quiniones started a Friday event celebrating the achievement by turning on the ceremonial micro-grid switch with city and federal officials. The grid will seamlessly power hundreds of Bronzeville customers in the event of an energy emergency.

"It's forward looking. This is a critical area for the city of Chicago. The headquarters for the police department, the fire department, are all in this Bronzeville area, not to mention a lot of good families. So to have a reliable source of energy through thick or thin, to have something that's affordable, it's a win-win situation," said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

Durbin worked to bring federal funding from the Department of Energy to Chicago to make the project a reality.

The solar panels aren't just on the ground. They're also on all 17 of the Dearborn Homes of the Chicago Housing Authority. The energy gathered there is funneled to the micro-grid and battery storage in Bronzeville to power 1,000 customers, including public safety, in the event of a major outage.

Bronzeville advocates like Bruce Montgomery, of the Bronzeville Advisory Council, hope this innovation will catalyze more ingenuity and investment.

"We hope that this investment in infrastructure will cause others to want write checks to come to this community not just because it's beautiful but because it has a resilient sustainable and innovative infrastructure," he said.