Microgrids and Batteries Are Becoming CRE’s New Insurance Policy

Why building owners are suddenly paying attention to behind-the-meter power

The outage problem just stopped being theoretical

For years, "resilience" sounded like a sustainability buzzword. In 2025, it’s starting to look like an underwriting requirement.

A recent J.D. Power survey found that the average length of the longest power outage reported by U.S. customers has climbed from about eight hours in 2022 to nearly 13 hours by mid-2025, with customers in the South seeing extreme events that average more than 18 hours. That’s not a blip; it’s a sign that storms, heat waves and wildfires are stretching grid repair timelines even as more of the economy goes electric.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is warning that, without new “firm” capacity to balance renewables and rising loads, blackout risk could increase dramatically by 2030. Add in AI data centers, fleet electrification and tighter performance expectations in sectors like healthcare and logistics, and one uncomfortable truth emerges: for many properties, utility service alone is no longer a complete resilience plan.

That’s why microgrids and battery energy storage systems (BESS) are moving from pilot projects to board-room agenda items for commercial real estate owners.

Microgrids: from niche pilots to portfolio strategy

Microgrids have been around for decades on campuses and military bases, but the playbook is maturing fast. The DOE’s recent “Microgrids 101” primer describes them as systems that can operate with the grid or island during disturbances, supplying critical loads for extended outages and typically integrating renewables to stretch fuel and improve power quality.

A Fast Company Executive Board op-ed aimed at property leaders frames microgrids as one of the only tools that can simultaneously reduce emissions, secure affordable energy, improve security of supply and protect competitiveness—all priorities McKinsey has highlighted for businesses wrestling with energy risk. For landlords, that’s a subtle but important shift: microgrids aren’t being sold just as “green tech” anymore; they’re being positioned as an integrated risk-management and P&L strategy.

Case studies from DOE’s Better Buildings network show that this is no longer hypothetical. Valley Children’s Healthcare in California is building what’s described as the largest pediatric hospital-based renewable microgrid in the U.S., combining solar, storage and advanced controls to keep critical operations running during outages while cutting long-term energy costs. NAIOP, the commercial real estate association, likewise calls microgrids “one of the best options” for mitigating power-supply risks, boosting asset value and even creating new revenue streams.

In other words: this is moving from one-off showcase projects to a recognizable pattern across healthcare campuses, mixed-use districts and industrial parks.

Batteries as the operating muscle

Look under the hood of these microgrids and you’ll usually find batteries. Global grid-connected BESS deployments hit roughly 156 GWh through October 2025—up 38% year on year—according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data summarized by ESS News and pv magazine.

For commercial buildings, vendors like Leoch Lithium now explicitly market BESS as tools for peak-demand reduction, time-of-use arbitrage, backup power and participation in utility demand-response programs, not just emergency reserves. Their recent guide for commercial buildings walks through use cases for offices, hospitality, retail, healthcare and education—each focused on shaving demand charges, stabilizing operations and integrating rooftop solar.

When you pair that storage with onsite renewables and a modern control system, you get a building that can:

• Ride through short-duration outages without going dark

• Avoid the worst demand spikes during hot afternoons or cold snaps

• Keep EV chargers, cold storage or life-safety systems running when the wider grid is struggling

• Turn flexible load and storage into a revenue source via grid services, not just a cost center

For tenants that run data rooms, healthcare operations or logistics hubs, that kind of resilience is rapidly moving from “nice-to-have” to a line-item requirement in RFPs.

How owners can start translating resilience into asset value

For owners, the most important shift is mindset: microgrids and BESS are not standalone gadgets, they’re part of a broader “building operating system” that now includes EV chargers, solar, automation and AI-driven controls. The DOE’s resilience guides for public buildings show a practical sequence that private owners can borrow: map critical loads, model outage scenarios, evaluate DER options (efficiency, solar, storage, CHP) and then build a financial case that includes both avoided outage costs and tariff savings. Layer in lessons from commercial case studies—like hospital and community-campus microgrids that are already being financed and built—and you get a clear message: this is no longer frontier tech reserved for utilities. It’s a design and investment decision squarely within the remit of CRE, healthcare and campus leadership.

The leasing story follows naturally. As a recent NAIOP article argues, assets with onsite resilience and cleaner, more predictable energy can command stronger tenant interest, support ESG-driven occupiers and, in some markets, capture green-premium pricing. In a world where outages are getting longer, electrified loads are multiplying and tenants are more sensitive than ever to disruption, a building that can “keep the lights on” when others can’t becomes more than a feel-good story—it becomes a competitive edge.

For owners and investors, the question is no longer whether microgrids and batteries are ready. The question is where, on which assets, and under what tariff and outage conditions they move from “interesting pilot” to core part of your resilience and value-creation strategy.