Another sign that utilities are beginning to understand the full worth of distributed energy comes from Xcel Energy’s Colorado utility, which last week released a framework to procure over 100 MW of dispatchable distributed generation (Docket No. 25A-0194E).
“Those who know me recognize that I don’t always agree with electric utilities. But when I do, it’s because they’re all-in on distributed energy resources,” said Samantha Weaver, senior director at Coalition for Community Solar Access on LinkedIn this week.
“This is a significant milestone for our industry. It’s one of the clearest signals yet that utilities are starting to agree with what many of us have long understood: DERs are ready to meet customer and system needs on par with traditional utility-scale resources,” she said.
She noted that similar DER programs are cropping up in the Pacific Northwest, with programs launched by Puget Sound Energy and Portland General Electric. Meanwhile, New York has led the way in developing 6 GW of distributed solar and over 2 GW of distributed storage.
The Xcel Colorado DER program is not to be confused with the pilot program that Xcel has proposed in Minnesota for distributed capacity procurement. That 200-MW DER program is getting mixed reviews from distributed energy advocates. Among other things, they question the expense of the program and why the utility uses distributed energy only for grid services and not to provide resilience for the participating buildings.
E.ON and Hover Energy Want to Make Microgrids the Primary Source of Urban Electricity
Texas-based microgrid company, Hover Energy, has teamed up with E.ON, one of the UK’s largest energy network and infrastructure operators, on a series of microgrids to meet growing demand for urban power.
The partnership will explore ways to modernize local electricity networks, making use of digital communications, renewable energy sources on community buildings, and smart meter data that can balance supply and demand on local energy networks in real time.
The project starts at London Borough of Newham and will build on E.ON’s solar sharing community energy project in Canning Town, and the UK’s first development of E.ON’s ectogrid heating and cooling network at Silvertown.
“We’re on a mission to turn the built environment into a power source, one site at a time,” said Chris Griffin, founder and CEO of Hover Energy, known for its wind microgrids. “Most of the current renewables approaches worldwide are focused on massive scale. While that is admirable, the greatest resilience and security is clearly created through distributed generation models. Our collaboration with E.ON is designed to prove the concept of a future-focused power system so we can draw a map towards modernizing our distributed grid system.”
FERC Gets Earful on Benefits of DERS in Data Center Era
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission handles bulk power issues, so it’s not typical for distributed energy resource (DER) companies to participate in its proceedings. But that’s started to change in recent years, as it’s become increasingly apparent that these resources offer grid benefits important to our times.
Such is the case in the current FERC docket called “Interconnection of Large Loads to the Interstate Transmission System (RM26-4-000), or in layman’s terms, “How the Heck is the Grid Going to Serve All of These Data Centers?”
The docket has attracted a wide array of energy companies and advocates from across the power industry who recently filed comments.
Enchanted Rock, which has 1.5 GW of microgrids in operation or development, is among the DER companies participating. The Texas-based developer urges federal regulators to embrace the concept of pairing new on-site, dispatchable generation with data centers to improve speed to power, reduce strain on the grid and provide a flexible resource grid operators can leverage during periods of peak demand.
Voltus, Sparkfund and Cloverleaf Infrastructure also filed comments, together advocating for distributed capacity. (See our latest podcast interview with Voltus, Data Centers: Bring Your Own Capacity Instead of Building Power Plants.)
Bloom Energy explains the value of energy parks. CPower, Enel North America and again Voltus promote demand response in a joint filing.
Data Center company Equinix proposes that FERC allow data centers to leverage aggregated resources and demand flexibility. Similarly, The Pew Charitable Trust pushes virtual power plants (VPPs) and Tesla “urges the recognition of DERs and VPPs as meaningful grid service tools that can support faster interconnection of large loads to the transmission system.”
Meanwhile, Rewiring America tells FERC: “Many utilities, and DOE itself, have recognized that virtual power plants, which aggregate and control a network of distributed assets, have rapidly become among the lowest-cost pathways to new megawatts for the grid.”
And the pro-distributed energy comments go on.
The value of distributed energy for its customers — resilience, cost savings, cleaner air — has been clear for a long time. What’s apparent now is that the data center buildup offers an opportunity for the worth of distributed energy to be equally on display as a grid asset. I’ll be writing more about this FERC proceeding.
