Energy companies and consumers are now rethinking the fundamentals of the design of the electrical grid.
Today’s grids depend on centralized electricity generation, with homes and businesses connected to a single large gas, coal, or nuclear power plant in their geographical location.
As utilities seek to integrate more reliability and fewer carbon emissions, and customers seek more control and reliability, the concept of micro-grids is becoming increasingly popular.
As solar energy and its battery storage become cheaper and environmental concerns become more mainstream, technology companies are increasingly becoming micro-utilities, developing their own capacity to generate electricity.
The same is true of smaller businesses and even neighborhoods that turn to local and municipal solar or wind power.
One curse of these developments is the fact that electricity generation is a highly regulated industry, with very different rules in many states. These regulations could make it more difficult for groups and organizations to create their own micro-grid facilities.
In the short term, organizations need to ensure that the power supply infrastructure is updated, tested, and reliable; in the longer term, companies should rethink how they consume, manage, and even generate electricity.
For more information, read the original story in Tech Republic.
