While utilities continue to pursue and develop centralized renewable energy to replace and supplement existing fossil fueled power plants, an electricity generation strategy based on wind and solar community-scale microgrids promises greater flexibility and resiliency, at potentially lower cost. Can one implement such strategies in local communities? What are the social and environmental impediments? This symposium features a discussion with Danish and U.S. colleagues on the technical, economic, and social feasibility of renewable energy microgrids, and investigates issues that may arise from interconnections with utility macrogrids. The discussion is framed in the context of the Danish government’s implementation of a program to enable the energy demand of Denmark be based entirely on renewable resources by 2050. The symposium looks at the issues involved in public acceptance of such strategies, and how one needs to inform the public of options based on scientific fact and not on opinion. Speakers will discuss the design, implementation, behavioral, and public policy aspects of microgrid installation and operation, and the feasibility of a microgrid generation strategy for addressing national energy needs. The panel will then discuss the roadblocks ahead at incorporating renewable energy resources into a national electrical grid.