The Fenway Neighborhood Microgrid
Climable and Fenway Forward (fka Fenway Community Development Corporation) have teamed up to strengthen energy resilience in The Fenway and explore the possibility of a community microgrid.
A microgrid is a local, independent energy system that provides backup power during outages to the key buildings in a neighborhood. Keeping power on to these facilities can keep the community safer during emergencies, by providing critical resources to ensure everyone’s needs are met. To learn more about microgrids, check out this resource.
Project goals
A microgrid in The Fenway could:
Enhance the community’s energy literacy
Empower the community to take ownership and control of their energy supply
Strengthen the neighborhood’s energy infrastructure, making it more dependable and resilient
Promote the adoption of clean energy sources and provide access to the related financial benefits
Why Fenway?
The Fenway neighborhood can benefit from a community microgrid because of the current issues it faces and its vulnerability to future impacts of climate change. In particular:
Worse air quality than 89% of neighborhoods in Massachusetts
Rising number of days spent above 96°F, more than in other parts of Boston
More than 2/3 of the neighborhood is at extreme risk of flooding over the next 30 years
Project Status
The team concluded our initial exploratory work in 2025 and determined that three residential buildings owned by Fenway Forward make great candidates for a community microgrid. More importantly, we learned that the community is excited about welcoming a microgrid into their neighborhood. The team plans to move forward with implementation in 2027.
If you are a resident, building owner, representative, or business owner in The Fenway and would like to explore other candidate buildings for this microgrid system, please reach out to our Senior Program Director, Maisy Rohrer, at maisy@climable.org.
A selection of our energy literacy materials used during the summer of 2025.
