Microgrids, Power Parks, and Awful History

I recently helped plan and run a utility industry conference. The focus of the gathering in suburban Detroit was emerging ideas—microgrids and distributed energy resources. We lined up knowledgeable speakers and vendors to discuss and display the latest ideas among 150 attendees from all over the country. One of the vendors brought a hydrogen fuel cell, about the size of a refrigerator, that sat in a conference room, quietly producing electricity and little else. Panelists discussed the potential and value of these technologies, and how to shape regulatory policies to encourage them.

Oops, did I say recently?

I meant to say 2001. I was a staffer at the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University. We had organized a conference that would meld emerging technologies and regulatory trends into an efficient, productive discussion.

We kicked off the gathering in a nice hotel on a bright September morning but within minutes, several attendees had exited the main room and gathered around a television in the lobby. They were watching the awful events of 9/11 unfold live, in jaw-dropping real time. Initial murmurs of disbelief quickly gave way to gasps, and then silence.

Plans made, plans changed

Needless to say, this overwhelmed any attempt to run a normal industry conference. At first, after a discussion with the attendees, there was an earnest effort to maintain some version of the original agenda, but people were in and out of breakout rooms, calling home, watching the news, and trying to process what was happening. Toward the end of that day, still in collective shock, we dealt with the logistics of trying to arrange transportation for everyone who had flown to Detroit. Flights were canceled, rental cars were scarce, and trains were sporadic. The "conference" turned into a big problem-solving exercise, fueled by inherently rational thinkers in a cooperative hive, planning ways to get everyone home.

(To be clear, I'm not conflating a historic day of human tragedy with a disrupted technical conference. I'm simply reflecting on my own vivid memories of people trying to keep their wits about them under extraordinary circumstances, how priorities can change in an instant, and how good humans help each other in stressful times.)

Years later, philosophical and practical thoughts

From those few days I have two observations; one is historical and the other is practical.

The first and most important is how unprecedented events can shatter peace and mold history, and how they can disrupt the most carefully laid plans. In the following months and years, the events of 9/11 shaped military, economic, social, and judicial policies in the US and elsewhere in profound ways. Everything changed in a single morning.

The other story, the practical one, is that some changes occur slowly. We were trying to jumpstart a discussion of microgrids and distributed energy resources 23 years ago, and we are still searching for the optimal economic, operational, and regulatory guidance that will make these technologies truly viable. In the interim, we’ve also sharpened our focus on carbon reduction, increased our use of renewable resources, and realized the importance of affordability for every class of customer.

To be fair, I’ve worked with several clients that are taking concrete steps in the right direction. They are modernizing the grid, incorporating community solar, plugging in big batteries, and building the systems that allow diverse resources to sync up and play nice with the larger grid.

But it’s a slog. Every little step needs to work right, offer economic benefits, and gain approvals from regulators. I like to think that we can clear the path and make the transition a little smoother, and I also like to think this is possible because we have "inherently rational thinkers in a cooperative hive" grinding through the details, and I've seen this work before.

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