America’s electric grid needs a people-focused makeover
by Robin Dutta, LS4A Campaign Director
It is no secret that America’s electrical grid is aging and caving in to increasing energy demand. This summer, Americans experienced power outages during the hottest recorded July in history. Temperatures soared well above 100°F in Phoenix for most of the month while Texas broiled, eventually pushing the hot air up as far as New York City. Hot summers mean constantly running air conditioning, and rising energy demand is pushing our electric grid to the brink. It’s time for us to adopt people-focused energy strategies to fix it.
American ratepayers lost power for about seven hours, on average, in 2021. Five of those seven hours occurred during serious weather events like snowstorms, hurricanes, and wildfires. This is not only a major increase since 2013, but an upward trend in average outage hours. Depending on where you live, your outages might be much, much longer than this. And yet, utility prices continue to skyrocket, often to offset grid maintenance costs.
When energy policies place people first, the top priority is to make sure the energy grid works when families need it most, while keeping power affordable, reliable and secure. It means building in resiliency so that when power lines go down, the lights at home stay on. The rehaul needs to support the financial and physical health and well-being of Americans, particularly those most vulnerable, such as low-wealth, and underserved populations.
So, what kinds of grid improvements will actually prioritize people and make our grid more reliable? It starts with transitioning to 100% renewable energy. We’re already seeing the benefits of more renewables on the grid. The next stage of the grid remodel includes deploying local solar systems that offer grid-enhancing services, like the “virtual power plants” or VPPs championed by the Department of Energy. These VPPs can link together to strengthen the grid. In Puerto Rico, for instance, seasonal hurricanes wreck the island’s fledgling grid on a yearly basis. Thankfully, VPPs have helped residents shore up their energy security amid energy infrastructure gaps.
VPPs can play a big role in keeping electric bills affordable, too. A clean electric grid that leverages expanded solar and battery storage will be $88 billion less expensive than doing nothing, equaling real savings for Americans. Community-wide local solar and battery storage adoption across the country could yield nearly half a trillion dollars in savings for Americans by 2050. And a new 2023 study showed that VPPs can save utilities billions of dollars compared to their current mode of operation. Local solar puts power back in people’s hands. By generating our own clean energy at home and storing it, we can protect ourselves from outages caused by unprecedented demand.
So what does a people-first remodel look like at home and in our neighborhoods? Apartment renters can subscribe to a portion of energy generated from a local community solar, which is often a larger solar array in the same utility service territory, and lowering their energy bill as a result. It means seeing more and more neighbors with rooftop solar on their roofs and batteries on their house which can offer back-up power in a power outage. Families can purchase heat pumps, smart appliances, and electric vehicles that lower their energy burdens and improve their quality of life. And it means that critical infrastructure like schools and hospitals have solar and storage which saves them money on normal days and keeps emergency services online.
The first step for people-first energy strategies is to deploy, deploy, deploy renewables to replace coal and unreliable natural gas generation. In tandem with community solar, we need off-shore wind, large-scale solar, and rooftop arrays with batteries in our communities. Then, we must ensure that low-income communities are not left behind in this electric grid remodel. And finally, make sure that all local clean energy, electric vehicles, and smart appliances can participate in programs that crowdsource their grid-enhancing services to improve reliability.
Ultimately, a new, more reliable and resilient electric grid isn’t really about flashy new technologies. It’s actually about helping people cope with the changing global climate and energy landscape. Local solar, battery storage, and virtual power plants do just that. These approaches to electricity usage center people’s experiences and needs – from their wallets, to their livelihoods and their health. Elected leaders, energy policy officials and large utilities must do the same. With our current electric grid aging by the day, a people-first remodel is the only viable path for a sustainable energy future for all.
