The Grid Doesn't Need More Power Plants (It Needs This)

[TaxmanHog]

The National Grid Is Dead. Here's What Replaces It. In April 2025, most of Spain and Portugal went dark. A cascading failure knocked out the Iberian peninsula's grid in seconds. Just four years earlier, Texas came within 4 minutes and 37 seconds of its own total collapse. Not a temporary blackout. A full shutdown.

What engineers call a "black start," a process that could take days to weeks to recover from. Not to mention all of the people that died as a result. According to the Department of Energy, 70 percent of US transmission lines are over 25 years old.

We're running 21st century lives on a mid-20th century grid. But back in 1997, energy consultant Karl Rábago wrote a blueprint for a radically different grid. His model? The internet. Seriously. And no, I'm not talking about today's internet, which is just five billionaires in a trench coat. I'm talking about the '90s internet.

Decentralized. Collaborative. And really, really cool. So how would the internet stop a blackout? And why did the guy who figured it out get ignored for 30 years? But first, we need to understand what went so wrong.

Sponsored

 

[Zprime29]

I recall an interview @tommolog did with someone who talked about this. I think it's a great idea but I fear it will meet with a lot of resistance from the monopolistic utilities. Marked it to listen on the way home today.

 

[tearitupsports]

I watched this earlier today, and totally agree. I have built my home system around this strategy. It is too bad that outside of ERCOT (TX) the financial incentive is not there yet. Without any sort of significant cost savings, these backup systems are out of cost reach for most.

 

[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

Nice….unfortunately it is not what we have now or in the very near future. Fingers crossed in the mean time.

 

[v2h8484]

Nice but overly simplified concept that is unlikely to be realized on a large scale anytime soon.

 

[chl]

Some states, (Utah and Virginia, maybe more) have laws now that eliminate utility restrictions and red tape on solar systems that are 1.2kW or less, so-called plug-in solar systems.

They take some of the load 'burden' and control away from the utility without a large capital investment by the consumer.

Different from what the video is talking about in some ways - the plug-in solar turns off when there is a utility outage to protect line-persons.

Still it is a small step towards a more distributed / cellular electric system.


"...The legislation would establish state law to address plug-in solar, remove unnecessary interconnection agreements from the portable panels, and require systems to meet national safety standards.

Interconnection agreements are made between utility companies and any person who is using home solar. This is because traditional home solar typically sends an amount of the energy that it generates back into the grid. With plug-in solar the amount of energy that would be sent back into the grid, if any, would be small enough that the utility company would likely be unable to detect it.

By exempting these small solar systems from requiring an interconnection agreement, we can remove a time-consuming and costly burden...."



https://environmentamerica.org/virginia/articles/bill-highlights-plug-in-solar-for-virginia/

 

[chriserx]

Wasn't that Nikola Tesla's original vision? Damn you Edison!! Seriously though, isn't that kinda how ERCOT was supposed to work, but at a larger scale? I suppose while he was Commissioner he realized zooming in would be a better approach. As far as new tech enabling this. I didn't really hear anything new at all except adding words to the thesaurus. Did I miss something?

 

[chl]

I expect to see a big increase in the "fuel" charges on my upcoming electric bills due to the 'excursion' in the middle-east driving prices up, which galls me for many reasons.

Seems to me back in Jimmy Carter's day, he was pushing for more solar and energy efficiency, then the was Al Gore warning us and promoting the same.

I guess it takes an oil price spike to get some people (the majority?) off the fence and thinking about it...better late than never?

 

[Ejunge]

I watched this earlier today, and totally agree. I have built my home system around this strategy. It is too bad that outside of ERCOT (TX) the financial incentive is not there yet. Without any sort of significant cost savings, these backup systems are out of cost reach for most.

So I Live in Austin TX area and I am on BASE power. its amazing in that it basically takes this concept and turns your home or business into an energy provider by supplying a battery for use during high output times.

I find it humorous that Karl Rebago used to be a VP at Austin Energy which has the most punitive Energy policies in Texas. they don't allow you to select your own companies- you MUST use Austin Energy, and they have adopted code that INCREASES your dependency on Austin Energy- ALL New commercial construction MUST have a dedicated circuit to provide for the eventual electrification of heating circuits- whether or not you elect to use them- this means that if you are building a building in ATX, and you want to have Gas heat for your building- you still have to pull electrical circuits for electric heat on your heating unit- incase you decide to ever get rid of or replace your unit. Its a huge joke when I go and meet with Mechanical engineers in ATX and ask them about working with Austin Energy, to a person, they shake their heads and start to chuckle.

Of course- apparently Karl is a Lightning owner, so there is a chance i could run into him at a Lightning Meetup.

 

[tearitupsports]

So I Live in Austin TX area and I am on BASE power. its amazing in that it basically takes this concept and turns your home or business into an energy provider by supplying a battery for use during high output times.

I find it humorous that Karl Rebago used to be a VP at Austin Energy which has the most punitive Energy policies in Texas. they don't allow you to select your own companies- you MUST use Austin Energy, and they have adopted code that INCREASES your dependency on Austin Energy- ALL New commercial construction MUST have a dedicated circuit to provide for the eventual electrification of heating circuits- whether or not you elect to use them- this means that if you are building a building in ATX, and you want to have Gas heat for your building- you still have to pull electrical circuits for electric heat on your heating unit- incase you decide to ever get rid of or replace your unit. Its a huge joke when I go and meet with Mechanical engineers in ATX and ask them about working with Austin Energy, to a person, they shake their heads and start to chuckle.

Of course- apparently Karl is a Lightning owner, so there is a chance i could run into him at a Lightning Meetup.

I like what BASE is doing, but they are still keeping most of the money they make for themselves. If you can afford to pay cash or finance the battery, there are much better options which will save you way more. My average bill over the last 12 months is under $30 (for both the house and truck) because I own the battery and can use it to my full advantage. Honestly I could get it down to under $10 except that my washer/dryer and oven/stovetop are not battery backed and I use them at peak rate times.

To your point yes the new texas laws allow everyone the right to sell back to the grid (through an authorized entity) so we are very close to the goal that is laid out in this video. My house is a full on microgrid already and there is very little difference between being on or off-grid, and I can get paid for my participation in that.

Sponsored