HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The City of Hartford, Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, and Bloom Energy announced the completion of a fuel cell microgrid that will generate clean energy, manage electricity costs and supply emergency power for public buildings and businesses in the city’s Parkville neighborhood.

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A fuel cell microgrid that will generate clean energy, manage electricity costs and supply emergency power for public buildings and businesses in Hartford's Parkville neighborhood. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, State Representative Lonnie Reed, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Robert Klee, and representatives from Constellation and Bloom Energy attended a ribbon cutting ceremony today at Parkville Community School to mark the occasion.

“I’m proud that Hartford is home to one of Connecticut’s first fully operational microgrids powering vital community services on a daily basis with clean, affordable energy,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. “This project strengthens Hartford’s energy infrastructure while reducing costs and making our City more sustainable, and I am grateful to the State, Constellation and Bloom Energy for their partnership.”

The 800-kilowatt microgrid system generates 100 percent of the electricity for Hartford’s Parkville Elementary School, Dwight Branch Library, Parkville Senior Center and Charter Oak Health Center. If there’s an electrical grid outage, the microgrid will provide emergency power to these locations and a local gas station and grocery store, so residents can purchase essentials. Excess power generated by the system will reduce electricity costs at four local schools: Bulkeley High School, Hartford High School, Weaver High School and the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy.

Constellation provided engineering, procurement and construction services for the project and operates the microgrid system. The city will purchase the electricity generated by Bloom Energy fuel cells at or below current market rates through a 15-year power purchase agreement. The project’s completion was the collective effort of private and public stakeholders from city and state agencies, Parkville’s community, local utilities and numerous engineering and construction firms.

“As a competitive energy supplier, Constellation aims to provide business and government customers energy options that enhance operational efficiencies, resiliency and sustainability,” said Gary Fromer, senior vice president of distributed energy at Constellation. “We applaud the City of Hartford and our project partners for their commitment to microgrid development and the state of Connecticut for creating public-private initiatives that support the development of innovative solutions.”

“Bloom Energy is proud to power this microgrid in the City of Hartford with clean, cost- effective electricity that will keep the community operating in emergency situations,” said Josh Richman, vice president global business development and policy at Bloom Energy. "This project is a truly innovative public-private partnership between Bloom Energy, Constellation, Eversource, the City of Hartford and the State of Connecticut."

The project is Connecticut’s first developed through a public-private effort and one of the first implemented through DEEP’s Microgrid Grant Program. Additionally, the project is part of the state’s Low-Emission Renewable Energy Credits Program, which enables participants to sell qualified Connecticut Class I Renewable Energy Credits created from renewable projects to the local utility under a long-term contract.

“DEEP’s first-in-the-nation microgrid grant program is an essential tool to help minimize hardships to our residents and businesses when severe storms occur, and we are going to see more frequent and more extreme storms as a result of changes in our climate,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee. “Microgrid projects, such as this innovative installation in Hartford, will help maintain critical government services and amenities people need even if the power goes down.”

To learn more about the City of Hartford microgrid visit https://youtu.be/2gMv-Diaxow.

About Constellation

Constellation is a leading competitive energy company providing power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Constellation serves more than 2.2 million residential, public sector and business customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), the nation's leading competitive energy provider, with 2016 revenues of approximately $31.4 billion, and more than 32,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation's cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. Learn more at www.constellation.com or on Twitter at @ConstellationEG.

About Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy is a provider of a revolutionary on-site power generation system called the Bloom Energy Server® based on proprietary fuel cell technology that provides 24x7 firm power that is reliable, clean and cost effective. With more than 200 MW deployed, Bloom Energy Servers produce power for companies including Apple, Wal-Mart, AT&T, eBay and FedEx, as well as notable non-profit organizations such as Caltech. Also, with its Mission Critical Systems practice, Bloom Energy provides grid-independent power for critical loads in data centers and manufacturing. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com.

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