A DOE-backed model
Federal validation first. Then a mandate to make it work everywhere, without federal support.
DOE set the criteria. NGE met every one.
DOE selected NGE’s HERO™ concept for a Top 10 award under its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, investing $250 million in the development and demonstration of HERO Hubs through a landmark project in Louisiana.
DOE's selection criteria were specific: distributed community-based power generation; energy storage and flexibility; advanced sensing, communications, and control systems; grid-forming power electronics enabling safe islanding; integrated system design rather than isolated components; and innovative financing and permitting models that remove barriers for municipalities.
- Distributed, community-based power generation
- Energy storage and operational flexibility
- Advanced sensing, communications, and control systems
- Grid-forming power electronics enabling safe islanding
- Integrated system design, not isolated components
- Financing and permitting models that remove municipal barriers
From demonstration to national model.
Having validated the HERO Hub model, DOE charged NGE with the next challenge: transition the proven concept into a fully commercialized, self-sustaining platform, one replicable at scale without continued government support.
That charge became the Keep Lights On™ Initiative, now actively deploying across Massachusetts.
Keep reading.
Why we built NextGen Energy
The structural problem the clean energy market accepted as fixed — and the model that closes it.
Read the case →Leadership Team
The people who have built, financed, and regulated energy infrastructure at the highest levels.
Meet the team →Partners
The policy allies, industry councils, and programs building this category alongside NGE.
See our partners →Two challenges. One company built for both.