## 3 Results
### Findings from the Case Study Comparison
#### 3.5.2 Microgrid Adoption in California--Case Study Findings  
California is particularly prone to wildfires. Like Victoria, the fire season runs from Spring to Autumn driven by hot, dry and windy conditions. The frequency and scale of fires in California have been increasing with climate change, with 2018 being the largest, most destructive, and deadliest on record. About 2% of the state's area was burned, 100 people died, and the economic costs have been estimated at USD148.5 billion (equivalent to 1.5% of California's annual GDP) [81]. The largest fires were caused by human activity and lightning, but the main cause (accounting for 50% of largest fires) is not clear (_ibid_). Downed power lines have been blamed for igniting a large number of fires. During the 2018 fires, California's centralised utility PG&E had to cut power to 100,000s of homes. In 2019, PG&E filed for bankruptcy, this was also to avoid payouts to wildfire victims [82]. We explored microgrid/DES adoption in Sonoma County, a famous wine making region in North California. The Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards & Winery promotes sustainability through resource conservation and organic farming [83]. To reduce its carbon footprint and grid dependency, the winery in 2012 installed an off-grid system. Today, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Case Study Location**} & **Proneness to Environmental Disasters** & **Evidence of Emergency DES** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Specialisation Strategies** \\ **(Community Energy, Sustainable Development, Bioenergy, Geothermal)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline California/USA & X & X & X \\ Christchurch/New Zealand & X & X & X \\ Aegean Islands, Greece & & X & X \\ India, Odisha & X & X & X \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: The table shows the location of the international case studies (first column) and the criteria that contribute its selection (top row). The cross (“X”) indicates the prevalence of the respective criteria.  
\end{table} 
Table 5: Inclusion parameters for the selection of international case studies. it includes a solar system, a gas/hydrogen-powered microturbine, a battery/hydrogen storage system and EV charging [83]. The storage system includes Lithium-ferro-phosphate (SimpliPhi) batteries (five 50 kW packs) and hydrogen fuel cells (H2 electrolyser) which is combined a Heila IQ optimizer. Battery storage is combined with a real time monitoring system. This system enabled the winery to survive the 2017 wildfires by switching to full island mode, allowing the business to operate for 10 days independently (_ibid_). The vineyard aims to become carbon neutral by 2030 (_ibid_). The Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC campus) microgrid demonstrates how the shift towards distributed energy benefits the campus at multiple levels. The SRJC campus is powered by a 2.6 MW solar export and supported by 1.3 MW Tesla battery storage [84]. The grid connected-microgrid supplies up to 35% of electricity on campus, and halved peak load. The campus' achievements (GHG reductions, RE share) are line with California's 2016 Global Warming Solutions Act and the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act [84]. Funding was received from the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utility and the City of Santa Rosa. The regulatory challenges for Sonoma County are similar to those of the Latrobe Valley. The system is seeking 'off gridding' in the fire season while maintaining essential services. To avoid legal challenges due to grid-induced wildfires, utilities now employ public safety power shutoffs during adverse weather events. This is further driving consumers towards off-grid solutions. While the Californian utility PG&E follows a centralised model, meaning the utility operates the transmission networks and provides retail services, alternatives, such as Community Choice Providers, are increasingly emerging.