How to save the grid
In all the conversations about energy, we rarely talk about the utilities. But the electrical grid is the backbone of the energy sector, and they’re the current gatekeepers of the energy market. Even while customers come to rely more on distributed energy like solar and wind, customers will still need the grid for most of their energy demands.
Unfortunately, the success of renewables is antithetical to the success of the grid. We built the grid 30 years ago on a set of design assumptions — a steady output of nuclear plants that ran throughout the day, with hydro, gas and coal that could be ramped to meet electricity demand. This is radically different from today’s grid that needs more electricity than ever before and needs to be cut or increased to match the intermittent power generation of solar and wind. As the market share of these renewables increase, it makes it even more difficult for the grid to supply the electricity needs of its customers. The grid could update its infrastructure, but the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that rebuilding the grid would cost $10B~13B/year for the next 10 years. Understandably, the grid (as it is today) doesn’t want any more renewables.
This, however, is the undeniable trend of the electricity market, and we’re going to need a grid that becomes a more…
