Inside the USA’s First Microgrid Designed School

Nature delivered three brutal wake-up calls to Lake Oswego School District in 2020: raging wildfires, a devastating ice storm, and a historic heat dome that pushed temperatures to 116°. As the Oregon district planned their new elementary school, these disasters sparked an innovative question: What if a school could stay powered through anything?

At the K12 Facilities Forum, Anthony Vandenberg, the district's Executive Director of Project Management, revealed how these climate challenges led them to pioneer the nation's first microgrid school - a design that's both sustainable and cost-effective. As climate challenges intensify nationwide, Lake Oswego's experience offers a compelling model for resilient school design that supports sustainability, operational continuity, and community-mindedness.

The Climate Wake-Up Call

"We're not built for that at all," Vandenberg said, reflecting on the unprecedented challenges that hit the district in 2020-21: devastating wildfires, a severe ice storm that downed hundreds of massive Douglas fir trees, and extreme heat.

These events pushed the district to think differently about injecting resilience into its facilities. The result was the roughly 78,000-square-foot River Grove Elementary School, the nation's first microgrid-designed school.

Understanding Microgrids

A microgrid is a system of interconnected energy sources – wind, solar, and others – and loads that can operate both while connected to a utility grid and also independently. Currently, microgrids nationwide provide 0.3% of US electricity but have grown by 11% over the past four years.

At River Grove, the microgrid combines three power sources: a 150-Kw solar array, 150-Kw hours of battery storage, and a backup diesel generator with a three-day fuel tank.

A programmable control system manages these sources, allowing the school to operate in three modes:
- Normal: Using utility grid power supplemented by solar
- Emergency (utilizing the generator): For brownout situations
- Island: Completely off-grid during extended outages

While emergency preparedness was a key driver, the microgrid offers additional benefits. "When you look at budget cuts, I started losing maintenance and operations staff," Vandenberg said. "Spending less money on operating a building, as well as energy, means those funds can go to keeping people employed."

River Grove is also a Category IV facility with enhanced seismic protection, built to serve as a community resource during disasters. Its photovoltaic array and battery storage ensure critical operations continue during extended outages.

The systems also help manage peak energy costs. Traditional schools see energy usage spike around midday when utility rates are highest. River Grove's microgrid can use stored battery power from its own sources during these peaks, potentially feeding power back to the grid.

Lessons Learned

Vandenberg emphasized that while microgrid technology isn't new, implementation brings challenges. Working with utilities proved particularly difficult.

"We first approached our utility about feeding back into the grid; I wanted to sell them back energy for more than they were charging me for it,” he said. “They told us that's not necessarily how it works.”

Thus, the district opted for a smaller, self-contained system to start, focusing on learning from the experience.

For districts considering similar projects, Vandenberg advises starting simple: "We're going to see what peak shaving looks like. We're going to try to keep it as uncomplicated as possible, and we’re going to learn."


Watch Anthony Vandenberg's full presentation below 👇