Bronzeville microgrid, largest of its kind in Illinois, is a step toward more reliable power, experts say

Sri Raghavan Kothandaraman peered eagerly at the computer screens set up in a white ComEd truck parked in Bronzeville.

If all went well, the screens would show that ComEd’s long-awaited microgrid could successfully “island” — or disconnect from the main electric grid — and use its own power sources to keep electricity flowing to over 1,000 customers in the historic South Side neighborhood.

Kothandaraman, an engineer who had worked on the microgrid project for seven years, watched...