Statistics have shown that annual weather-related power outages in the United States have doubled over the last two decades as ever more powerful storms batter the nation’s aging grid. Looking back at the start of the grid it’s no wonder that now the industry faces so many issues. “We originally designed the grid to work in one direction,” said Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez, who directs the renewable energy and advanced mathematics lab at the University of California, San Diego. Recently, the number of renewable projects ready connecting to the grid has increased dramatically. Are we on the right track to provide power to customers and to return the surplus and how it will impact the industry overall?
"Resolving grid issues with utility-scale energy storage is probably the hottest thing out there,” he said according to Rhett Bennett, CEO of Black Mountain Energy Storage.
Last year, Texas accounted for 31 percent of new U.S. grid-scale energy storage, according to energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. Texas residents are looking for ways to provide their own electricity. “That’s the crux of this whole thing: We have to make sure we have adequate power when it’s really hot, when it’s really cold, when the wind’s not blowing and the sun’s not shining,” said PUC Chair Peter Lake. “That’s what it comes down to.” Consultant to PUC, Zachary Ming discusses the impact on the industry, “[I]t’s a very well-established and understood relationship that when renewable energy comes online, that reduces the profits for all of the other generators that are on the system, specifically and particularly dispatchable resources, like natural gas and coal, and causes them to exit the system because they are not earning enough revenues to cover their costs.”
Utility customers have lost their patience and their confidence in utility companies. Rate hikes have also contributed to consumers searching for ways to break away from the larger utilities. In Clyde, Ohio a study, commissioned by the City Council, confirmed that a locally run electric system would save residents and local businesses $62 million over the next decade. A number of consumers, across the country, are seeking independence from their electricity providers.
“The increasing impacts from climate change—the extreme weather events we’re experiencing, are laying bare how vulnerable our existing infrastructure is and how it’s just not working,” said Missy Stults, sustainability and innovations director for the city of Ann Arbor. “I don’t think this is the electrical system that’s going to bring us into the next 100 years,” said Stults.