AlphaStruxure, Montgomery County (MD), U.S. Senator Van Hollen, U.S. Representative Raskin, USDOT, USDOE & Corporate Leaders Celebrate Launch of Integrated Microgrid Powering County’s Ride On Electric Bus Fleet—a First in the Washington Region

• County Executive Elrich, Senator Van Hollen, Deputy Secretary Trottenberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary Berube joined AlphaStruxure, Schneider Electric and Carlyle leadership to cut the ribbon and participate in “first plug-in” of a County e-bus  
• This innovative project supports the sustainability, electrification, and climate resilience goals of Montgomery County, Maryland 
• Microgrid includes distributed solar energy generation, renewable natural gas ready on-site generation and battery energy storage

SILVER SPRING, Md.-- Today, AlphaStruxure, a leader in Energy as a Service (EaaS) solutions, and Montgomery County, Maryland (County) officials celebrated the launch of the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot microgrid, an integrated electric bus charging infrastructure project in Silver Spring, MD. Leaders from AlphaStruxure, a joint venture of Schneider Electric and Carlyle, were joined by County leadership, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Transportation at the Department of Energy Michael Berube, for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and “first plug-in” of a County electric bus. AphaStruxure led this project, providing the County with a trusted partner in realizing their electrification, sustainability, and resilience goals with Carlyle’s comprehensive financial capabilities and Schneider Electric's leading microgrid technology, software, and services.

This is the first microgrid to power electric buses in the Washington region.

The 6.5 MW microgrid includes bus-height solar canopies, renewable natural gas-ready on-site generation, battery energy storage, and over 4.14 MW of charging capacity. This project is delivered at no upfront cost to the County through an EaaS contract, a long-term agreement ensuring predictable operating expenses and guaranteed performance without upfront capital expenditures.

“The transportation infrastructure of tomorrow is up and running today in Montgomery County,” said Juan Macias, CEO of AlphaStruxure. “We are thrilled to partner with Montgomery County on this holistic solution that delivers improved, cleaner services to County constituents. This benchmark project serves as a national model for municipalities and private fleet owners across the county to efficiently deploy the charging infrastructure and distributed energy resources that the energy transition requires, accelerating the electrification of medium and heavy-duty vehicle fleets. Thanks to a turnkey Energy as a Service approach, we’ve delivered an integrated bus fleet solution with a resilient energy supply and without upfront costs or financial risks for the County.”

“This project has been garnering attention around our nation and throughout the world because it is innovative, groundbreaking, and will help us achieve our ambitious climate action plan to reduce all carbon emissions by 2035,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Transportation is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas. We are leading by example by going emission-free. We’re the third nationally to have solar-powered charging stations for our buses with one of the most sophisticated integrated microgrids. We should be able to fill this bus depot with 70 electric buses by 2026. We’re well on our way to our goal of an emissions-free fleet by 2035 and improving the County's resilience. I want to thank DGS, MCDOT, and AlphaStruxure along with their parent companies Schneider Electric and Carlyle for working together with us to make this project a reality for Montgomery County.”  

This resilient microgrid will provide uninterrupted power to the County Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) Ride On transit electric buses and in the long-term will run on 100 percent renewable energy in alignment with the County’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2035. By 2026, the Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot will be home to 70 electric transit buses. Transitioning these 70 buses from diesel to electric, powered by the on-site clean energy microgrid, will reduce lifetime emissions by 62 percent equivalent to more than 160,000 tons of greenhouse gas reduction over the next 25 years.

Today’s event marks the completion of the project’s first phase, which was finished in just one year without any safety incidents or impact on the bus depot’s operations. During the event, County officials announced that, due to AlphaStruxure’s demonstrated expertise to manage all aspects of designing, building, operating, and maintaining the microgrid, the County has decided to expand its partnership with AlphaStruxure to accelerate the development of the next project phase. This next phase includes adding additional charging capacity and two additional renewable natural gas-ready gensets to ensure resilience, reliability, and guaranteed uptime of the system.

Montgomery County leveraged its progressive energy purchasing regulations to create a public-private partnership with AlphaStruxure, which designed, built, financed, owns, and operates the project. The microgrid’s performance is managed by the AlphaStruxure IntegrateTM digital platform, a cyber-by-design platform that provides real-time visibility to all stakeholders, allowing for optimal operations throughout the microgrid’s lifecycle. 24/7 Network Operators work to predict and respond to the system in real-time so that the microgrid meets Montgomery County’s ambitious goals.

Montgomery County’s commitment to infrastructure that’s resilient to climate change became a higher priority after the 2012 derecho when many residents lost power. The Depot ensures uninterrupted transit bus services during emergencies, even in the event of multi-day utility grid outages. The microgrid’s battery energy storage system will also participate in a Demand Response program with Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), which will support regional grid performance and optimization for greater energy resilience for local residents and businesses. The project ensures operational flexibility, providing the County with full control over dispatch and bus routing.

Statewide, Maryland is working towards a 50 percent zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. The Brookville Smart Energy Bus Depot is aligned with the County’s priorities to reduce emissions from public transportation while enhancing the resilience of the community and infrastructure assets.

AlphaStruxure’s partners on this project include Arup which provided engineering support; M.A. Mortenson Company which led construction; SunPower which provided the photovoltaic solar panel system; AB Energy which provided the gensets, Dynapower which provided the battery energy storage system, Heliox which provided the charging infrastructure; The Mobility House which provided the charging management system, and AZZO provided the network and communications system.