Home batteries help keep lights on during extreme weather

Virtual power plants, or aggregations of solar-powered batteries, water heaters, smart thermostats and other technologies, make the power grid more reliable and climate-friendly

Clean energy

In July, Hurricane Beryl knocked out power for over two million Centerpoint Energy customers in the Houston area. However, one Houston-area resident was able to keep the lights on with an emerging green technology: solar-powered battery storage. As his entire neighborhood went dark, Brent McNeil used his home battery system to power his home and share power with his neighbors.

Brent is one of thousands of Texans looking to battery storage systems as a way to keep power on during extreme weather events like Beryl and Winter Storm Uri. Unlike diesel or gas-powered generators, they don’t run on dirty fossil fuels. And unlike generators, they may allow homeowners to profit during times without extreme weather events.

That’s the premise of virtual power plants (VPPs), or aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar-powered batteries, water heaters, or smart thermostats. VPPs allow homeowners to use power from batteries or curtail the use of certain appliances in exchange for compensation. This makes the power grid more reliable and climate-friendly, as VPPs can help mitigate the need to fire up extra electricity generation during peak demand times.

The Department of Energy (DoE) estimates that 30-60 gigawatts (GW)  of VPP capacity is already on the grid nationally today. According to DoE assessments, the U.S. will need 200 GW of additional peak demand by 2030. However, deploying 160 GW of VPPs could account for up to 80% of new peak U.S. demand and save customers possibly as much as $10 billion annually. California, New York, Texas, and Massachusetts lead the way in VPP deployment. Vermont’s largest utility, Green Mountain Power, has sponsored a VPP program since 2015.

Plans to integrate VPPs into the grid are underway in Texas. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) recently launched the Aggregate Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) Pilot Project to facilitate the development of VPPs. Last year, PUCT announced the establishment of two VPPs, one with Houston-area CenterPoint Energy customers and another with Dallas-area Oncor Electric Delivery Company customers. An additional six ADER projects were in the commissioning phase as of last year. These eight projects fill only 16% of the pilot’s 80 MW energy cap, meaning there is ample room for short-term VPP growth in Texas supported by PUCT.

The more consumers with DERs like batteries, the better VPPs will work in Texas. Utilities like Centerpoint can offer incentives for home battery storage systems to spur the growth of VPPs throughout the state. The expansion of VPPs would benefit all stakeholders and make Texas’ power grid greener and more resilient.

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Authors

Nathaniel Fagelson

Intern

Nathaniel Fagelson is a sophomore at Stanford University.

Luke Metzger

Executive Director, Environment Texas Research & Policy Center

As the executive director of Environment Texas, Luke is a leading voice in the state for clean air and water, parks and wildlife, and a livable climate. Luke recently led the successful campaign to get the Texas Legislature and voters to invest $1 billion to buy land for new state parks. He also helped win permanent protection for the Christmas Mountains of Big Bend; helped compel Exxon, Shell and Chevron Phillips to cut air pollution at four Texas refineries and chemical plants; and got the Austin and Houston school districts to install filters on water fountains to protect children from lead in drinking water. The San Antonio Current has called Luke "long one of the most energetic and dedicated defenders of environmental issues in the state." He has been named one of the "Top Lobbyists for Causes" by Capitol Inside and received the President's Award from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society for his work to protect Texas parks. He is a board member of the Clean Air Force of Central Texas and an advisory board member of the Texas Tech University Masters of Public Administration program. Luke, his wife, son and daughters are working to visit every state park in Texas.