By all accounts, the recent winter storms that resulted in an energy crisis for millions of people across Texas is an indication, not the exception, of future weather events that have the ability to endanger power systems.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a new report entitled Electricity Grid Resilience and testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on its findings.
“New technologies provide utilities with additional options for meeting demand and providing reliable service. These options include variable energy resources, smart grid technologies, and energy storage,” the report explains. “Many of these options are relatively inexpensive and fast to deploy, especially compared with constructing large, conventional power plants. In addition, new technologies within the system are increasingly available for use by customers and can enable more flexible operations.”
That flexibility can be provided through Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), which can refer to both physical and virtual assets integrated into an electric grid and used individually or in aggregate to provide supplementary power to the grid, individual customers, or both. DERs have frustrated incumbent utilities that believe they present management issues, but the opposite is actually true —these resources can make the difference in a crisis.
The value of rooftop solar played out in real-time during last month’s winter storm. Houston homeowners who had invested in rooftop solar were able to enjoy uninterrupted power, despite the shutdown of the region’s power system.
Customer-owned DERs like rooftop solar plus battery storage systems amount to a mini utility at home. When connected to similar home-based systems nearby, a neighborhood can be transformed into a microgrid that can operate isolated from the wider electrical grid. Those aggregated DERs can also send energy back into the local utility to meet periods of peak demand.
The key is the ability to have two-way communications and digital technologies that allow for managing the intermittency of DERs. If a utility or a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) can “look into” communities and be able to push energy in or pull energy out of them and supply the grid during peak demand, major outages can be avoided, and consumers ultimately win since they are paid for the excess energy they generate. Dispatchable DERs, such as advanced energy storage technologies found in some microgrids, can offset the inherent variability of intermittent resources.
Of course, individual consumers, even entire neighborhoods, have to be adequately compensated in order for DERs to truly become competitive.
Many of the climate events that the grid must contend with are localized, and the solutions to address these events should also be tailored to the needs of communities at risk. The CBO report found that using alternative methods of electricity generation, sourced at the community level, can boost the resilience of local power grids against the worst effects of climate change.
To combat power outages in communities as they experience extreme weather, our electricity sector will benefit from a higher focus on localized renewable energy projects to offset power supply in high-demand scenarios. Projects like rooftop solar plus solar are game-changers in these instances.
“If designed correctly, charging batteries prior to power outages or the pairing of local resources, such as solar rooftops with behind-the-meter storage, can allow customers to continue to use electricity during power outages,” the report clarifies.
Empowering individual consumers with reliable electricity at home, even during unexpected weather emergencies, is an impactful way to ensure Americans are able to get through these storms. Consumer-owned resources like rooftop solar and battery connected in a neighborhood should be viewed as essential protections against future extreme weather events as our nation continues to reevaluate how we want our grids to function in the face of a changing climate.