The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality recently announced it will invest $5 million to build 24 emergency power sources, known as microgrids, including in six counties in western North Carolina.
Microgrids power essential equipment during a disaster and are often deployed when hurricanes cause outages, like those following Hurricane Helene in 2024.
The new microgrids will be available in Avery, Buncombe, Madison, Mitchell, Rutherford and Yancey counties, and located at vital community hubs, such as fire stations, food banks and churches. In addition, there will be two mobile Beehive Microgrids set up for western North Carolina and along the coast of eastern North Carolina, expected to be completed by March 2027…