Businesses across all sectors of the economy are urgently seeking alternative means to ensure operational uptime due to the pressing issue of an aging electric grid. While this is a significant selling point, it's crucial to understand that adopting microgrid technology offers more than just a solution to this problem.
Senior Editor Breanna Sandridge spoke with PowerSecure’s Vice President of Corporate Development, Todd Jackson, in the company’s booth at the Microgrid Knowledge Conference last month in Baltimore.
As microgrids become more mainstream resources, companies are discovering how they can be integrated with additional technologies to increase their usefulness and support a business case to all stakeholders.
“If you look at the majority of our customer base, they are looking for reliability and resiliency,” Jackson said. “Energy storage is a great technology for recovering from a power outage, but if that outage is more than, say, eight hours, the energy storage is challenged. So, most are looking for how to also implement fossil-based or renewable fuel assets but also experience carbon reductions.”
However, as additional technologies are added, microgrid installation and deployment project budgets can quickly grow beyond what was originally projected. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to develop a deep understanding of the minimum requirements needed to power their operations. This knowledge will help them determine the most crucial functionalities and technologies needed to secure their operations efficiently and affordably.
“We have been educating our customer base on the stimulus funding that’s out there. Through the Department of Agriculture, there are two pretty good stimulus programs that are allowing the co-ops to deploy energy storage plus renewables,” said Jackson. “We help them understand how to utilize that money to get newer technologies… and start utilizing the real carbon-free assets.”
When these factors are considered, businesses—especially those performing critical services such as data centers and medical facilities—can attain the abundant power needed to secure their operations when utility companies struggle to consistently provide this level of energy.
Click here to see the full interview with PowerSecure’s Todd Jackson
