Install Distributed Energy Resources to Protect Your Business in New York City
The winter energy crisis in Texas earlier this year cost many businesses several weeks of revenue and maintenance costs as the Texas energy infrastructure failed. As a result, business owners everywhere might worry about how an energy crisis might affect their own business. A proactive plan that considers extreme weather and unexpected events is essential to the long-term success of your company. Read on to learn more about the benefits that a sustainable microgrid project will bring to your New York City-area business.
What Factors Contributed to the 2021 Blackouts in Texas?
Unlike other states that use either the Eastern or Western Interconnection power grids, Texas relies on its own power grid, the Texas Interconnection, which is unable to import power from the other two grids. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, abbreviated as ERCOT, operates the electrical grid that supports 90% of the state’s electrical load and manages the deregulated market for 75% of the state. The Texas Interconnection lacks federal oversite, as well as weatherization on both the infrastructure of energy production and the distribution of energy to retail customers.
Additionally, despite recommendations given by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to adopt a mandatory standard for preparing electricity infrastructure for extreme weather events after the Texas winter freeze in 2011, ERCOT failed to do so.
Even if energy assets are properly weatherized, unexpected weather events, like that of Super Storm Sandy in 2012, can cause temporary—or even permanent—energy issues. That’s why it is critical for facilities to review their resiliency plans, or if one does not exist, to develop a resiliency plan to prepare for such events.
How Can You Prepare Your Business?
To prevent your business from being decimated by an energy crisis, you need to create a plan that addresses both known weather phenomena and unexpected events like extreme temperatures, flooding, fires, and national security threats. Environ utilizes a unique methodology, Resiliency, that has proven to minimize the consequences of a prolonged power outage and reduce your operational costs and carbon footprint.
Using distributed energy resources (DERs) such as fuel cells, engines/turbines, photovoltaic solar + battery, wind, and generators, we can help you craft an energy solution that will support your business through any power crisis. Distributed energy management systems allow you to manage an array of distributed energy resources for easy control of your grid assets, creating a microgrid that can be islanded from your local utility company.
Creating an energy procurement strategy will also protect your business from falling victim to market volatility. During the 2021 winter freeze in Texas, the wholesale price of electricity spiked more than 10,000% because there was more demand than the supply available. Because Texas is an unregulated market, customers can pick their utility providers. Some offer variable plans that allow customers to pay the wholesale price for power, which appeals to customers because the bill might be lower than a fixed-rate plan in better weather and at different times of the day. In the case of a power emergency, however, users are left to pay exorbitant prices.
Environ is a trusted women-owned business in the New York City area that can help you identify the correct DERs, evaluate proper rates or tariffs, and develop a resiliency plan for your organization based on our experience with helping customers recover from Super Storm Sandy. Using our proprietary methodology of resiliency, sustainability, procurement, and efficiency, we will create a plan customized to the unique needs of your business. If you are ready to make the leap to a more sustainable energy solution, call (800) 375-1457 or fill out our contact form to get in touch with us. We would love to work with you!