Courtesy: Adarsh Agarwal via Unsplash.
Amid rising electricity costs and increasing demand on the US grid, a group of businesses, nonprofits, and consumers has come together to form a new coalition and unified voice to modernise the energy system.
The first-of-its-kind coalition, called Common Charge, officially launched this week to promote affordable, reliable power. The group aims to address ongoing energy affordability and reliability crises by leveraging the power of distributed assets.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to choose between comfort or financial stability and keeping the lights on,” said Katherine Hamilton, acting executive director of Common Charge. “The tools to lower bills and protect our shared grid are already plugged in around our communities as local solutions. The clock is ticking to enable them through smart policy and regulation that puts consumers first. Maximising distributed assets is crucial to protect our grid and energy consumers in the age of data centres, rising energy costs, and severe weather.”
Distributed assets include devices already plugged into the power grid (batteries, vehicles, smart thermostats, solar, etc.) and the technologies that enable them (demand response, virtual power plants, management systems, etc.). These homegrown resources are already delivering community-wide results across the country, Common Charge asserts.
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In the Northeast and Midwest (PJM), distributed asset management has provided thousands of megawatts during heat waves this year, for which consumers were directly compensated. New York delivered six gigawatts of distributed solar early and under budget last year, saving customers millions on energy bills. A pilot programme in Texas provides the grid with nearly 60 megawatts of power from customer-sited assets, while microgrids have been used to keep hospitals running during outages. Behind-the-meter solar in New England helped prevent rolling blackouts for thousands of homes and saved all ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars during this summer’s heatwave. In a recent test in California, 100,000 distributed assets simultaneously discharged to the grid for two hours, performing the same function as a power plant, flattening peak energy demand.
Unlocking the full power of distributed assets through fair market access will lead to a more affordable, customisable, reliable energy system for everyone and provide additional power to the grid when it needs it most, and Common Charge wants to… for lack of better terms, lead the charge.
“The time for modernising the energy system is now,” said Hamilton. “From a small business improving operations through an energy management system, to a community leveraging solar to save on energy bills, to homeowners enjoying the comfort of smart thermostats, millions of distributed assets already exist, and more are waiting to be leveraged in a modern, coordinated energy grid. These assets are proven to increase reliability, lower utility costs, and grow local economies.”
Common Charge will work with its members and stakeholders to:
Drive consumers and policymakers to unlock the full potential of distributed assets.
Advance policy reforms and fair market access to integrate and maximize the full power of distributed assets for grid support and ratepayer benefits.
Unite consumers, nonprofits, and businesses to replace the outdated energy system with a more flexible, resilient, consumer-focused system.
Founding members include Advanced Energy United, Charge Ahead Partnership, Coalition for Community Solar Access, Eco Capital, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Pivot Energy, Solar United Neighbors, Sunrun, and Vote Solar.
Originally published by Paul Gerke on Factor This.
