Tomorrow’s Electrical Energy Paradigm: Microgrids

It’s hard to imagine the content of the conversations that are going on in the boardrooms of the power utilities.  Perhaps it’s not too different from those happening at the oil companies: The very conditions by which we exist are rapidly eroding.

2GreenEnergy supporter Brian McGowan sent me this article on microgrids springing up in New York, which explains quite clearly why the subject should be horrifying to utility investors.  Whether the driver is reliability in the face of storms, the environmentally-focused demand for clean energy, or the falling prices of solar, wind, and batteries, there is no doubt that the 100-year-old concept of a monopoly-owned power grid is rapidly falling apart.

How much of the old paradigm will we miss?  In addition to coal-fired power plants belching out poisons, there are approximately 200 million utility poles in the U.S. alone, and it’s hard to imagine any tears falling when this eyesore is relegated to history.