This past summer, Houston residents came face-to-face with the failures of their existing power grid. Hurricane Beryl, a category 1 storm, left most of the city in the dark. Those reliant on the power grid lost electricity almost immediately, and even people with diesel generators quickly realized there wasn’t enough fuel. 

Not everyone in the city lost power, however. The locations where there were still lights included grocery stores, hospitals, and even private homes. One thing they had in common was their reliance on gas-powered microgrids. 

Safe Havens Were Microgrid-Created

Throughout the chaos of the days after the storm, safe havens remained, including H-E-B grocery stores, which continued to provide food for the people of Houston. The stores were able to do so because of Enchanted Rock’s microgrids, which kept the power on 24/7. 

While businesses and homes went without electricity for more than eight days, those with microgrid systems were able to function normally. Enchanted Rock, a Texas microgrid development company, operated 140 microgrids at the same time, supplying 210 MW to its customers throughout the ordeal. 

“That was a record for us,” states Allan Schurr, chief commercial officer of Enchanted Rock. While they didn’t provide air conditioning services during the crisis, they did ensure healthcare facilities and grocery stores were up and running. Schurr sees supporting critical infrastructure as the company’s mission. 

The residents of Houston who were microgrid-supported opened their businesses and homes to those who needed to power cell phones or take showers. H-E-B stores set up areas where people could charge devices, and Enchanted Rock’s microgrids kept on churning energy. People with residential microgrids even ran electrical lines to help get power to neighbors. 

Microgrids Can Go Beyond Storm Relief

The technology behind microgrids is powerful enough to support the existing grid. One of the best aspects of the process is that it comes with the opportunity to store energy, allowing for the formation of virtual power plants.

Virtual power plants are decentralized, offering reliability in power outage situations like the one caused by Hurricane Beryl. That’s not the only benefit, though. In Texas, where the power grid is already struggling to keep up with energy demands, microgrids and the virtual power plants they can form can bolster the entire system. 

Despite the benefits of decentralizing the grid, there are challenges to adapting microgrids. Most of these can be addressed with legislation, but Texas doesn’t seem to be moving quickly enough. 

One issue that homeowners face is that they need to meet technology requirements that apply to utility resources. Residential systems shouldn’t need that level of tech, but the law states otherwise. 

Expense is another concern. Residential systems need to be easy to sign up for, and they should offer incentives to get people involved with virtual power plant options like microgrids. 

With a bit of help from the Texas government, however, and from the reliable microgrids from companies like Enchanted Rock, it’s possible to keep cities like Houston operating even when disaster strikes. 

Read the original article by Microgrid Knowledge to learn more.