Page 30 - Energize September 2021 HR

VIEWS AND OPINION

Prosumagers can essentially turn into the Electricity Brain Trust recently posted, grid defection can come in different forms: “The
“nonsumers” by generating more than they simplest, being experienced in Hawaii, is for multiple residences to consolidate service behind a
consume. If the NEM laws become less single meter. This is happening in so-called “ohana zoning” in which property owners can build a
generous and retail rates remain high, the family unit on their property. We call these Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in my state’s land use
motivation to store becomes even more lingo (Washington). With low fixed monthly charges, and an inclining block rate design, it made
compelling. sense to meter these separately. But now fixed charges are higher, which discourages this. And,
For example, consider the case of once they have installed solar on the primary residence, it makes sense to consolidate behind a
Ahmad Faruqui, who lives in the eastern single meter to minimize export and forfeiture of excess generation.”
suburbs of San Francisco. Faruqui is among “Grid defection can also include customers simply relying on their solar plus batteries and
an increasing number of nonsumers. He keeping a backup generator handy in case that’s not enough. I know several people in Maui and
lives in an ultra-efficient house with 8 kW the Hawaii’s Big Island who have done that and have used their backup generators very little. It can
of solar panels on the roof paired with a 9,8 also involve joining a micro-grid in which a group of customers presents itself to the grid through a
kWh LG Chem battery in the garage next to single meter,” Lazar adds.
a Tesla. He recently reported that for the The first option is not strictly legal – and is certainly discouraged by regulated utilities. The last
billing months of February to July 2021, one requires the formation of an organisation to manage and operate the micro-gird, which could
his net usage was negative 822 kWh – that be physical or virtual.
is, he exported more into the grid than he But the middle one is legal, feasible and – for anyone with the capital and the basic
took from it. knowhow – could be economic, certainly in high retail cost areas. Not only does it save on
It certainly helps to start with an energy utility bills over time, but nonsumers can boast about their low carbon footprint – including
efficient house since that reduces the amount charging their EVs from the sun – and ride through occasional service interruptions without
of energy needed to run the household loads. even noticing them.
It also helps if you have more solar panels on Another threat comes from stand-alone off-grid applications now proliferating all over the
the roof – say 15 kW rather than 8 kW. And world, not just in the US. Lazar wrote that more than a million ‘customers’ have chosen the off-grid
it does not hurt if you are in a sunny area, as option in the past five years.
in California or Brisbane, Australia. But you Don’t freak out: most of these are pedestrian crossing lights, traffic warning signals, outdoor
can be a nonsumer even in cold climates with advertising signs, weather stations, Coast Guard beacons and similar small uses. These loads,
little and/or intermittent sun. (typically) less than 10 kWh/month, are only cost-effective to install and operate with PVs and
Amory Lovins built a house in Snowmass, batteries at low-voltage. You can install them without an electrician at all.
Colorado many years ago that needs virtually For the pedestrian crossing signals, you just order the box, drill a post hole, set a post in
no heating even in freezing temperatures. concrete and bolt the contents of the box onto the pole, orienting the solar panel to the south,
Another nonsumer has built a house in and walk away.”
Maryland that relies on a ground-source heat No matter how you look at it, consumers now have options, they can become prosumers,
pump to stay warm when there is no sun in prosumagers, lowsumers and ultimately, nonsumers. The standalone devices are another
the winter and the ground is covered with unwelcomed source of revenue leakage – they require no connection to the network and generate
snow. He has not one but two Teslas, which no revenues for the distribution utilities.
he tries to run on solar-generated electricity How far could such grid defections ultimately go? An observer who prefers to remain
as much as he can. It can be done and anonymous wrote: “There’s no doubt there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of
increasingly it will be. Grid defection is for customers for whom grid defection is a very real feasibility, in both technical and economic
real, and it is only beginning. terms. In most regulated utility jurisdictions (in the US), though, it is (currently) illegal for
Finally, there is service unreliability – a anybody other than a regulated utility company to serve multiple customers (behind a single
real issue in America and elsewhere. In meter). There are plenty of experimental enclaves and grey legal areas, but the illegality is still
the case of California, where this author the norm. It is a topic of interest if applied to micro-grid and remote-mini-grids. Altogether, it’s
resides, service interruptions – mostly from at least a $10 trillion dollar ‘blind spot’ or conundrum (for regulated utilities), in our current
the fragile distribution network – are not regulatory regimes.”
uncommon. For anyone working from home “My guess is that few utilities recognise this threat in any serious way, and those that do are
– which is currently most of us – no power spending millions of dollars and years in the courts trying to defend their no-longer-valid natural
means no business. On top of that, frequent monopoly status.”
and widespread wildfires have prompted It is a sad commentary on the relationship between the customers and regulated distribution
the distribution utilities to engage in Public utilities – who in many parts of the US also happen to be the owners of the critical poles and wires.
Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), which means If an increasing number of customers are better off generating their own electricity and storing
customers can be thrown in the dark for the excess for later use – or by forming energy communities or micro-grids that enables them to
hours, frequently with little notice. It is mostly, if not entirely, go off-grid – what will happen to the costs of maintaining the grid for those
annoying to say the least. who cannot do the same?
Having your own backup is a big plus – Grid defection in its various manifestations seems inevitable – only if it were allowed by
which explains the surge in demand for home regulators. For how much longer will the utilities be able to maintain the untenable status quo?
storage. Moreover, customers are trying to
find ways around regulated retail tariffs – Acknowledgement
sometimes pushing the envelope on what is This article was first published by EEnergy Informer and is republished here.
allowed and legal.
As Jim Lazar, an expert who moderates Send your comments to rogerl@nowmedia.co.za

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