CANTON -- Canton will receive $100,000 in state funding for a microgrid feasibility study.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced awards of $100,000 each will be given to 83 communities across the state to support innovative microgrid projects.

Canton was one of the winners. A release from the governor’s office says the town is prone to electricity spikes and winter outages, such as the January 1998 ice storm, in which 100,000 National Grid customers in St. Lawrence and surrounding counties were without electricity for between one and three weeks.

These awards were granted as part of the NY Prize microgrid competition to support a new generation of community-based power.

Canton’s proposed microgrid would include solar, combined heat and power, energy storage, back-up generators, biomass generation, building load control, and an advanced microgrid controller.

Partners on the project include town and village offices, St. Lawrence University, St. Lawrence County offices, Canton Central School District, SUNY Canton, St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, Canton Potsdam Hospital, United Helpers, National Grid, St. Lawrence Gas, and Seaway Timber Harvesting/Curran Renewables. Engineering partners include L & S Energy Services Inc. and Green Energy Corp.

The 83 communities will study the feasibility of installing a community microgrid—a standalone energy system that can operate independently of the main grid in the event of a power outage. Such systems would integrate renewable power with other advanced energy technologies to create a cleaner, more affordable and more resilient localized energy grid for a limited number of users.

"New Yorkers have first-hand experience regarding the need for resilient and efficient power systems that can withstand whatever Mother Nature has in store for us," Governor Cuomo said. "This funding will help communities across New York invest in these new systems, which will ensure critically important institutions such as police and fire stations, hospitals and schools can continue operating during and in the aftermath of an extreme weather event.”