Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
In-Person at WWU
Science Lecture, Room 150
Price:
Free
Brought to you by:
Institute for Energy Studies, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
Check out this video to watch the Washington's Opportunity in Proliferating Community Microgrids.
As Washington grapples with rising electricity demand, climate-driven disruptions, and infrastructure bottlenecks, microgrids are emerging as a solution for delivering community energy resilience. In this presentation, Markus Virta of Cascadia Renewables and Sulis Energy draws from recent fieldwork and policy consulting to explore how Washington’s growing number of grant-funded, site-specific microgrids can serve as the foundation for a regional resilience network.
Markus presents a case for the role utilities can play in incentivizing and operating multi-node microgrids, and interoperable community energy systems. He will describe the role of utility-grade reclosers, intelligent relays, DERMS/VPP platforms, intelligent utility rate design, and policy levers in enabling this shift. The presentation builds on his work providing technical assistance in the Solar Plus Storage for Resilient Communities program at the WA Department of Commerce and delves deeper into valuing resilience—highlighting metrics such as value of lost load (VOLL), value of resilience (VOR123), and social burden—as tools for integrating resilience into grid planning and rate design.
Attendees will gain a fresh perspective on the technical, regulatory, and community engagement pathways needed to reimagine Washington’s grid not as a centralized relic, but as a flexible, resilient backbone of climate adaptation.
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Featuring:
Markus Virta is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at both Cascadia Renewables and Sulis Energy, where he leads clean energy deployment efforts focused on solar, storage, and microgrid integration across the Pacific Northwest. With a background in clean energy development, design, construction, and policy advocacy, Markus has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of distributed energy resources and climate resilience.
He served on the Washington Solar Energy Industries Association (WASEIA) Executive Committee for more than six years, including three as President, and continues to support the organization in a strategic policy advisory role. In addition to his industry leadership, Markus currently serves on the Washington State Commercial Energy Code Technical Advisory Group, where he helps shape pragmatic, forward-looking codes that support clean grid modernization and the integration of Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS).
Markus is known for his ability to bridge technical complexity with practical implementation, guiding community-based energy solutions that are both scalable and equitable.
Questions and Accommodations
- Contact The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for this event if you have questions or need disability accommodations by calling (360) 650-3353 or emailing Alumni@wwu.edu.
- Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is greatly appreciated. Please indicate your special needs on the registration form.
- There will be auto-captions available for the Zoom webinar.
Visitor Parking at WWU on Weekdays
- Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: limited paid parking is available at the south C lots and north 6V and 7G lots.
- Purchase your permit at the lot pay stations or use the Parkmobile app.
- More parking details for campus visitors are available online.
Parking at WWU on Weekdays for Visitors with Disabilities
- Mon-Fri, 7:00am-4:30pm: both a WWU permit and state disability placard are needed.
- Purchase your permit at the pay stations in lot C or 6V or use the Parkmobile app (use Zone 1200). This allows parking in any disability space. If these are full, you can use a non-reserved space nearby.
- More parking details for campus visitors with disabilities are available online.
The views expressed by our speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.