Vermont utility wants to end power outages by offering batteries. Could it work in Maine?
When we see a proof of concept, energy transition advocates? And for the matter, when will we be able see its scalability?
Vermont utility wants to end power outages by offering batteries. Could it work in Maine?
by Lori Valigra
October 12, 2023
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The nine Tesla Megapacks in this battery system have a capacity of 20 megawatt hours, about enough to power 9,000 homes for two hours. Credit: Murray Carpenter / Maine Public
Winter storms and historic flooding this year brought fresh impetus to an ambitious plan by Vermont’s largest electric company to end power outages in seven years by providing batteries to customers and shoring up existing infrastructure.
Green Mountain Power, which serves about 270,000 homes and businesses, submitted a plan to regulators on Monday asking for approval to invest $30 million to provide television-sized batteries to homeowners that would draw on clean energy from solar panels and wind turbines. The utility’s new Zero Outages Initiative aims to save on expensive grid repairs and expansions by investing another $250 million in stronger cables and buried power lines in vulnerable areas such as remote parts of central and southern Vermont.
STATE
OF
VERMONT
PUBLIC
UTILITY
COMMISSION
Petition
of
Green
Mountain
Power
for
approval
of
its
Zero
Outages
Initiative
as
a
Strategic
Opportunity
pursuant
to
30
V.S.A.
§
218d
and
GMP’s
Multi-Year
Regulation
Plan
)
)
)
)
Case
No.
23-____-PET
PETITION
FOR
APPROVAL
OF
GREEN
MOUNTAIN
POWER’S
ZERO
OUTAGES
INITIATIVE
AS
A
STRATEGIC
OPPORTUNITY
UNDER
ITS
MULTI-YEAR
REGULATION
PLAN
Green
Mountain
Power
Corporation
(“GMP”)
petitions
the
Public
Utility
Commission
(“Commission”)
pursuant
to
30
V.S.A.
§
218d
and
Section
IV(A)(6)
(the
“Strategic
Opportunities
Exception”)
of
GMP’s
Current
Multi-Year
Regulation
Plan
(“MYRP”
or
the
“Plan”)
to
approve
GMP’s
Zero
Outages
Initiative,
which
proposes
targeted
infrastructure
investments
to
significantly
increase
local
resilience
in
the
face
of
the
severe
impacts
of
climate
change
driven
storms
and
other
disasters,
so
customers
can
experience
no
outages
in
their
electricity
service.
In
support
of
this
Petition,
GMP
states
as
follows:
1.
GMP
is
a
Vermont
corporation
engaged
in
the
generation,
transmission,
distribution,
and
sale
of
electricity
directly
to
the
public.
Its
principal
office
is
located
at
163
Acorn
Lane,
Colchester,
Vermont
05446.
2.
As
an
integrated
electric
utility,
GMP
is
subject
to
the
Commission’s
regulatory
authority
over
its
electric
rates
and
service.
See
30
V.S.A.
§§
203,
209,
218,
218d,
219,
225,
226,
and
227.
3.
GMP
is
currently
under
a
four-year
MYRP,
which
was
approved
by
the
Commission
under
30
V.S.A
§
218d
in
Case
No.
21-3707-PET.
4.
As
set
forth
in
the
supporting
testimony
and
exhibits,
GMP
seeks
approval
to
implement
its
Zero
Outages
Initiative
to
further
protect
customers
from
the
impacts
of
damage
due
to
climate
change
and
other
grid
emergencies,
enhance
local
resiliency,
and
equitably
improve
Case
No.
23-___-PET
Petition
for
Strategic
Opportunities
Exception
October
9,
2023
Page
2
of
9
customers’
quality
of
life
by
eliminating
outages
throughout
its
territory.
This
plan
builds
on
the
effective
regulatory
framework
GMP
is
under
by
expanding
ongoing
innovative
initiatives
and
Transmission
&
Distribution
(T&D)
resiliency
work.
This
is
done
through
a
combination
of
storm
hardening
lines,
creating
community
microgrids
in
targeted
areas,
and
deploying
residential
storage,
using
each
solution
where
it
is
most
effective
for
customers.
5.
Recognizing
the
present
and
future
severe
impacts
of
a
changing
climate
on
customers
and
the
state,
GMP
has
worked
to
proactively
harden
the
grid
and
implement
new
technologies
to
support
customer
and
community
resilience.
In
recent
years
GMP
has
significantly
accelerated
climate
resiliency
projects
for
customers.
During
GMP’s
2018
regulation
plan
GMP
filed
a
specific
Climate
Plan,
which
was
approved
in
Case
No.
20-0276-PET
and
permitted
additional
targeted
capital
investment
for
these
purposes.
The
resiliency
investment
principles
developed
in
the
Climate
Plan
are
now
part
of
GMP’s
Integrated
Resource
Plan
(“IRP”)
and
incorporated
in
its
current
MYRP
and
capital
planning
process.
6.
However,
it
is
clear
the
pace
of
this
work
must
dramatically
increase.
Storms
are
increasing
in
magnitude,
frequency,
severity
of
damage,
resulting
in
significantly
greater
restoration
costs
than
expected
even
when
the
Climate
Plan
was
filed,
and
other
physical
and
cyber
threats
to
the
regional
grid
also
are
increasing.
This
past
winter
saw
four
of
the
most
damaging
winter
storms
in
GMP’s
history,
typified
by
warmer
temperatures
bringing
heavy
wet
snow
that
piled
up
and
tore
down
trees
in
its
service
territory.
In
the
March
2023
storms,
Vermont
received
liquid
precipitation
equivalent
to
what
the
state
experienced
in
Tropical
Storm
Irene
in
some
areas
of
the
state.
And
then,
four
months
later
in
July,
an
even
greater
amount
of
rain
fell
on
the
state,
bringing
catastrophic
flooding
that
decimated
several
communities
and
caused
outages.
1
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The aggressive plan would be the most wide-ranging effort focused on batteries in the nation to date. It would broaden the utility’s current efforts already underway to distribute batteries to residents.
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