That’s Not Their Job. Possibility does not imply responsibility. One deal that consumers, government and utilities made in return for favorable regulatory proceedings like monopolies and franchise agreements was the responsibility to serve. That means that when you want to turn on the lights or hospitals run an X-ray machine, it works. Climate is making it more complex for grids to operate and an evolving generating portfolio means that complexity includes the dimension of time. But needing to count on your car to provide power to your house in the event of backup is insanity. While it sounds cool, you could have also plugged an extension cord into your combustion engine truck or run a generator as a backup. However, none of these scenarios create monetary value for the user which is what is supposed to happen if the grid ‘needs’ you to provide your own power. Grid operators could look at the EV increases on the grid and rightfully say, we will dispatch your vehicle and pay you X dollars to do so, if they ‘need’ those resources to keep the lights on. Of course they could simply say, if you reduce your homes load, we’ll pay you those same dollars but they do neither.
- New York Times: A New Job for Electric Vehicles – Powering Homes During Blackouts
- Utility Dive: US grid congestion costs jumped 56% to $20.8B in 2022 – report
- Reuters: US, China aim to revive climate cooperation as tensions simmer
- Bloomberg: How China’s Renewables Boom Is Fueling Its Coal Expansion
- Axios: Dangerous heat wave spreads across southern U.S.
- Solar Power World: Pegasus Solar debuts solar roof mount with pre-installed sealant
- Energy Storage News: Norway’s FREYR Battery gets €100 million EU grant for Giga Arctic factory
- Canary Media: Chart – The US is now exporting more LNG than ever before
- PV-Magazine: State climate policies that can make a difference
Opinion
Best, Yann