Planning for Resiliency in EV Fleets

In many markets, the demand for electric vehicle (EV) charging is outpacing electrical supply. When the overall demand for electricity is too high from charging and other major loads, the grid becomes strained, leading to potential blackouts and challenging outcomes for EV fleets. Resiliency will continue to become even more important as vehicle charging and operation are dependent on the electric grid for fuel.

Improving Energy Solutions for Evolving Digital Infrastructure Power Needs

The electric grid is a dynamic, multi-faceted ecosystem made up of asset owners, manufacturers, service providers, and federal, state, and local government officials. Ensuring the grid provides reliable, efficient, and sustainable electricity continues to be a challenge across the entire ecosystem. Many of these challenges can be addressed by microgrids which, studies show, offer more resilience and are better for the environment than diesel generators.

Enhancing Resiliency for the Energy Transition

This white paper from Guidehouse explores dual purpose microgrids’ critical role of offering long duration backup power at customer sites and balancing wholesale wind and other renewables on the larger grid to guarantee resilient electricity.

Decarbonized Resilience

A critical question facing utilities, regulators, communities, large energy users, and other industry stakeholders is whether the same level of local community resilience provided by diesel backup generators can be achieved through economical microgrid alternatives that are more consistent with clean energy goals.

A New Grid Architecture for Optimizing Resiliency

Grid resiliency has never been more topical than it is now. Extreme weather supply constraints, cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and broad electrification are creating greater risks for modern society as it increasingly relies on the grid for its energy needs. Forward-thinking policy makers must consider a new grid architecture to achieve greater resiliency against multiple threat vectors. As the list of critical customers and community services relying on electric service expands, policies that support microgrids can work in tandem with the existing regulatory framework for electric utilities to cost effectively deliver high levels of resiliency.

NREL Report: A Comparison of Fuel Choice for Backup Generators

Business operations require reliable, high-quality power, and many life-saving devices depend on a steady supply of electricity. The increasing incidence and cost of power outages have heightened interest in the use of backup generators. Many businesses without backup are considering installing generators, and facilities such as hospitals and airports—which are required to have backup power—are considering redundant systems for added resilience against grid outages. An understanding of the costs, potential revenue streams, and reliability associated with various backup system configurations is important for informed decision making.

7 Strategies to Make Microgrids a Fit for Utility Grid Modernization

Enchanted Rock and Microgrid Knowledge conducted a survey in 2022 of leaders at large U.S. electric utilities to take the pulse on their actions and attitudes on microgrid development. The results revealed a fascinating landscape, one in which most executives believe their utilities have a broad role to play with microgrids. Yet most also saw deterrents that prevented their utilities from playing this role.