I think it’s safe to say that, with the possible exception of a psychic or two who claim to have predicted the global pandemic that we’re all hoping would stop plaguing us, none of us had any idea that 2020 would be turned on its ear by a virus we’d never heard of a few short months ago. We’re all wondering what the short- and long-term impacts will be on all aspects of our lives, and at Enbala, we’ve been studying, pondering and prognosticating what the impact will be on the world’s evolution to distributed energy resources — and a greener, more sustainable energy future.
- Will business and residential customers continue to demand clean energy alternatives, and how will the answer to this question impact the market for renewables?
- How long will overall reductions in electricity demand persist, and how will the ramifications impact short- and long-term energy costs and the impact of these costs as drivers for cleaner energy alternatives?
- Can an increased focus on distributed energy resources help speed recovery from the pandemic?
- How will on-again, off-again stay-at-home orders and summer high-demand expectations impact grid reliability/stability, and how can distributed energy resources help?
A newly released Deloitte Resources 2020 study and a subsequent webinar this week noted that in spite of today’s pandemic-induced reduction in energy demand, renewables are nevertheless comprising a larger percentage of the overall fuel mix — a strong indicator that the move away from coal and towards distributed energy resources will continue to march inexorably forward. Deloitte points to three primary trends supporting continued progress: “rising consumer sentiment and stakeholder pressure on business to address climate change, the convergence of environmental and cost drivers, and the quest for greater resiliency and self-sufficiency.”
In an article that he just wrote for for Energy Central, Enbala President and CEO Bud Vos considers these and other factors that point towards a continued push for carbon neutrality and an increased reliance on distributed energy assets. As Bud expresses in his article, we have an opportunity before us to create a new and better normal and to make our energy grids more efficient, resilient and economical by expanding our reliance on clean, distributed energy resources.
