Industry and the federal government have agreed that cooling, heating, and power (CHP) systems are a key support for the electric grid of the future and that eight gigawatts should be installed by 2020. How likely is this projection? The first step to understanding the barriers and likelihood o success in achieving this goal is to really understand the magnitude of the goal. Eight gigawatts equal:

• 8,000,000,000 watts or
• 200-40 MW district energy plants or
• 800-10 MW university CHP loops or
• 4,000-2 MW hospital installations or
• 16,000-500 kW retail stores or
• 80,000-100 kW peak shaving installations.

This paper will examine the history leading up to recent national electric grid problems, the rationale why CHP or buildings makes sense, the barriers to achieving success, and the programs in place to achieve success.

Units: Dual